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BY 
SELMA LAGERLOF 


Translated from the Swedish 
BY 
VELMA SWANSTON HOWARD 


DECORATIONS BY BERTHA STUART 





NEW YORK 
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 


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COPYRIGHT, 1908, 
Se RR eae ao 
| HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 






















THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS 
; _ RAHWAY, N. J. 





Colleg@ 
Library 


eT 
A ty A 
KVES 


CONTENTS 


THE HOLY NIGHT - - - - = 
THE EMPEROR’S VISION’ - - - - = 
THE WISE MEN’S WELL - - - - S 
BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN - - - - es 
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT - - - = 
IN NAZARETH - - - = - = = 
IN THE TEMPLE - - = - - - = 
SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF - . - = 
ROBIN REDBREAST~ - - = - = a 
OUR LORD AND SAINT PETER - - - 


THE SACRED FLAME - - - - = - 


17770390 


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203 


221 





THE » HOLY» NIGHT 




















THE HOLY NIGHT 


HEN I was five years old I had such a 
great sorrow! I hardly know if I 
have had a greater since then. 

It was then that my grandmother died. Up 
to that time, she used to sit every day on the 
corner sofa in her room, and tell stories. 

I remember grandmother told story after 
story from morning till night, and we children 
sat beside her, quite still, and listened. It was 
a glorious life! No other children had such 
happy times as we did. 

It isn’t much that I recollect about my grand- 
mother. I remember that she had very beau- 
tiful snow-white hair, and stooped when she 
walked, and that she always sat and knitted a 
stocking. 

And I even remember that when she had fin- 
ished a story, she used to lay her hand on my 
head and say: “ All this is as true, as true as 
that I see you and you see me.” 

3 


4 CHRIST LEGENDS 


I also remember that she could sing songs, 
but this she did not do every day. One of 
the songs was about a knight and a sea-troll, 
and had this refrain: “‘ It blows cold, cold 
weather at sea.” 

Then I remember a little prayer she taught 
me, and a verse of a hymn. 

Of all the stories she told me, I have but a 
dim and imperfect recollection. Only one of 
them do I remember so well that I should be 
able to repeat it. It is a little story about 
Jesus’ birth. 

Well, this is nearly all that I can recall about 
my grandmother, except the thing which I re- 
member best; and that is, the great loneliness 
when she was gone. © 

I remember the morning when the corner 
sofa stood empty and when it was impossible 
to understand how the days would ever come 
to an end. That I remember. That I shall 
never forget! 

And I recollect that we children were brought 
forward to kiss the hand of the dead and that 
we were afraid to do it. But then some one 
said to us that it would be the last time we 
could thank grandmother for all the pleasure 
she had given us. 

And I remember how the stories and songs 
were driven from the homestead, shut up in a 


THE HOLY NIGHT 5 


long black casket, and how they never came 
back again. 

I remember that something was gone from 
our lives. It seemed as if the door to a whole 
beautiful, enchanted world—where before we 
had been free to go in and out—had been 
closed. And now there was no one who knew 
how to open that door. 

And I remember that, little by little, we chil- 
dren learned to play with dolls and toys, and 
to live like other children. And then it seemed 
as though we no longer missed our grandmother, 
or remembered her. 

But even to-day—after forty years—as I sit 
here and gather together the legends about 
Christ, which I heard out there in the 
Orient, there awakes within me the little le- 
gend of Jesus’ birth that my grandmother 
used to tell, and I feel impelled to tell it 
once again, and to let it also be included in my 
collection. 

It was a Christmas Day and all the folks had 
driven to church except grandmother and I. 
I believe we were all alone in the house. We 
had not been permitted to go along, because one 
of us was too old and the other was too young. 
And we were sad, both of us, because we had 
not been taken to early mass to hear the sing- 
ing and to see the Christmas candles. 


6 CHRIST LEGENDS 


But as we sat there in our loneliness, grand- 
mother began to tell a story. 

‘There was a man,” said she, ‘‘ who went 
out in the dark night to borrow live coals to 
kindle a fire. He went from hut to hut and 
knocked. ‘Dear friends, help me!” said he. 
‘My wife has just given birth to a child, and I 
must make a fire to warm her and the little one.’ 

“But it was way in the night, and all the 
people were asleep. No one replied. 

“The man walked and walked. At last he 
saw the gleam of a fire a long way off. Then 
he went in that direction, and saw that the fire 
was burning in the open. A lot of sheep were 
sleeping around the fire, and an old shepherd 
sat and watched over the flock. 

‘When the man who wanted to borrow fire 
came up to the sheep, he saw that three big 
dogs lay asleep at the shepherd’s feet. All 
three awoke when the man approached and 
opened their great jaws, as though they wanted 
to bark; but not a sound was heard. The man 
noticed that the hair on their backs stood up 
and that their sharp, white teeth glistened in the 
firelight. They dashed toward him. He felt 
that one of them bit at his leg and one at his 
hand and that one clung to his throat. But their 
jaws and teeth wouldn’t obey them, and the man 
didn’t suffer the least harm. 


THE HOLY NIGHT 7 


‘“* Now the man wished to go farther, to get 
what he needed. But the sheep lay back to 
back and so close to one another that he couldn’t 
pass them. Then the man stepped upon their 
backs and walked over them and up to the fire. 
And not one of the animals awoke or moved.” 

Thus far, grandmother had been allowed to 
narrate without interruption. But at this point 
I couldn’t help breaking in. ‘‘ Why didn’t they 
do it, grandma?” I asked. 

“That you shall hear in a moment,” said 
grandmother—and went on with her story. 

‘* When the man had almost reached the fire, 
the shepherd looked up. He was a surly old 
man, who was unfriendly and harsh toward hu- 
man beings. And when he saw the strange man 
coming, he seized the long spiked staff, which 
he always held in his hand when he tended his 
flock, and threw it at him. The staff came right 
toward the man, but, before it reached him, it 
turned off to one side and whizzed past him, 
far out in the meadow.” 

When grandmother had got this far, I inter- 
rupted her again. ‘‘ Grandma, why wouldn’t 
the stick hurt the man?”’ Grandmother did not 
bother about answering me, but continued her 
story. 

‘““ Now the man came up to the shepherd and 
said to him: ‘Good man, help me, and lend me 


8 CHRIST LEGENDS 


a little fire! My wife has just given birth to 
a child, and I must make a fire to warm her 
and the little one.’ 

‘The shepherd would rather have said no, 
but when he pondered that the dogs couldn’t 
hurt the man, and the sheep had not run from 
him, and that the staff had not wished to strike 
him, he was a little afraid, and dared not deny 
the man that which he asked. 

‘“*’Take as much as you need!’ he said to 
the man. 

‘“But then the fire was nearly burnt out. 
There were no logs or branches left, only a big 
heap of live coals; and the stranger had neither 
spade nor shovel, wherein he could carry the 
red-hot coals. 

‘“ When the shepherd saw this, he said again: 
‘Take as much as you need!’ And he was glad 
that the man wouldn’t be able to take away any 
coals. 7 

‘But the man stooped and picked coals from 
the ashes with his bare hands, and laid them in 
his mantle. And he didn’t burn his hands when 
he touched them, nor did the coals scorch his 
mantle; but he carried them away as if they 
had been nuts or apples.” 

But here the story-teller was interrupted for 
the third time. ‘‘ Grandma, why wouldn’t the 
coals burn the man?” 


THE HOLY NIGHT 9 


“That you shall hear,” said grandmother, 
and went on: 

“And ‘when the shepherd, who was such a 
cruel and hard-hearted man, saw all this, he 
began to wonder to himself: ‘ What kind of a 
night is this, when the dogs do not bite, the 
sheep are not scared, the staff does not kill, or 
the fire scorch?’ He called the stranger back, 
and said to him: ‘ What kind of a night is this? 
And how does it happen that all things show 
you compassion ? ’ 

“Then said the man: ‘I cannot tell you if 
you yourself do not see it.’ And he wished to 
go his way, that he might soon make a fire 
and warm his wife and child. 

‘‘ But the shepherd did not wish to lose sight 
~ of the man before he had found out what all 
this might portend. He got up and followed 
the man till they came to the place where he 
lived. 

“Then the shepherd saw that the man didn’t 
have so much as a hut to dwell in, but that his 
wife and babe were lying in a mountain grotto, 
where there was nothing except the cold and 
naked stone walls. 

‘‘ But the shepherd thought that perhaps the 
poor innocent child might freeze to death there 
in the grotto; and, although he was a hard man, 
he was touched, and thought he would like to 


10 CHRIST LEGENDS 


help it. And he loosened his knapsack from 
his shoulder, took from it a soft white sheep- 
skin, gave it to the strange man, and said that he 
should let the child sleep on it. 

‘‘ But just as soon as he showed that he, too, 
could be merciful, his eyes were opened, and he 
saw what he had not been able to see before 
and heard what he could not have heard before. 

“* He saw that all around him stood a ring of 
little silver-winged angels, and each held a 
stringed instrument, and all sang in loud tones 
that to-night the Saviour was born who should 
redeem the world from its sins. 

‘Then he understood how all things were so 
happy this night that they didn’t want to do 
anything wrong. 

“And it was not only around the shepherd 
that there were angels, but he saw them every- 
where. They sat inside the grotto, they sat out- 
side on the mountain, and they flew under the 
heavens. They came marching in great com- 
panies, and, as they passed, they paused and 
cast a glance at the child. 

“There were such jubilation and such glad- 
ness and songs and play! And all this he saw 
in the dark night, whereas before he could not 
have made out anything. He was so happy be- 
cause his eyes had been opened that he fell upon 
his knees and thanked God.” 


THE HOLY NIGHT II 


Here grandmother sighed and said: “‘ What 

that shepherd saw we might also see, for the 
angels fly down from heaven every Christmas 
Eve, if we could only see them.” 
- Then grandmother laid her hand on my head, 
and said: ‘‘ You must remember this, for it is 
as true, as true as that I see you and you see 
me. It is not revealed by the light of lamps 
or candles, and it does not depend upon sun and 
moon; but that which is needful is, that we have 
such eyes as can see God’s glory.” 





° THE » 
EMPERORS VISION 


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THE EMPEROR'S VISION 


T happened at the time when Augustus was 
Emperor in Rome and Herod was King in 
Jerusalem. 

It was then that a very great and holy night 
sank down over the earth. It was the darkest 
night that any one had ever seen. One could 
have believed that the whole earth had fallen 
into a cellar-vault. It was impossible to distin- 
guish water from land, and one could not find 
one’s way on the most familiar road. And 
it couldn’t be otherwise, for not a ray of light 
came from heaven. All the stars stayed at home 
in their own houses, and the fair moon held her 
face averted. 

The silence and the stillness were as profound 
as the darkness. The rivers stood still in their 
courses, the wind did not stir, and even the 
aspen leaves had ceased to quiver. Had any 
one walked along the seashore, he would have 
found that the waves no longer dashed upon 
the sands; and had one wandered in the desert, 
the sand would not have crunched under one’s 
feet. Everything was as motionless as if turned 
to stone, so as not to disturb the holy night. 

15 


16 CHRIST LEGENDS 


The grass was afraid to grow, the dew could 
not fall, and the flowers dared not exhale their 
perfume. 

On this night the wild beasts did not seek 
their prey, the serpents did not sting, and the 
dogs did not bark. And what was even more 
glorious, inanimate things would have been un- 
willing to disturb the night’s sanctity, by lending 
themselves to an evil deed. No false key could 
have picked a lock, and no knife could possibly 
have drawn a drop of blood. 

In Rome, during this very night, a small com- 
pany of people came from the Emperor’s palace 
at the Palatine and took the path across the 
Forum which led to the Capitol. During the 
day just ended the Senators had asked the Em- 
peror if he had any objections to their erecting 
a temple to him on Rome’s sacred hill. But 
Augustus had not immediately given his consent. 
He did not know if it would be agreeable to 
the gods that he should own a temple next to 
theirs, and he had replied that first he wished 
to ascertain their will in the matter by offering 
a nocturnal sacrifice to his genius. It was he 
who, accompanied by a few trusted friends, was 
on his way to perform this sacrifice. 

Augustus let them carry him in his litter, for 
he was old, and it was an effort for him to 
climb the long stairs leading to the Capitol. He 


THE EMPEROR’S VISION 17 


himself held the cage with the doves for the 
sacrifice. No priests or soldiers or senators 
accompanied him, only his nearest friends. 
Torch-bearers walked in front of him in order 
to light the way in the night darkness and be- 
hind him followed the slaves, who carried the 
tripod, the knives, the charcoal, the sacred fire, 
and all the other things needed for the sacrifice. 

On the way the Emperor chatted gaily with 
his faithful followers, and therefore none of 
them noticed the infinite silence and stillness of 
the night. Only when they had reached the 
highest point of the Capitol Hill and the vacant 
spot upon which they contemplated erecting the 
temple, did it dawn upon them that something 
unusual was taking place. 

It could not be a night like all others, for 
up on the very edge of the cliff they saw the 
most remarkable being! At first they thought 
it was an old, distorted olive-trunk; later they 
imagined that an ancient stone figure from the 
temple of Jupiter had wandered out on the cliff. 
Finally it was apparent to them that it could 
be only the old siby]l. 

Anything so aged, so weather-beaten, and so 
giant-like in stature they had never seen. This 
old woman was awe-inspiring! If the Emperor 
had not been present, they would all have fled 
to their homes. 


18 CHRIST LEGENDS 


“Tt is she,” they whispered to each other, 
‘‘ who has lived as many years as there are sand- 
grains on her native shores. Why has she come 
out from her cave just to-night? What does 
she foretell for the Emperor and the Empire— 
she, who writes her prophecies on the leaves of 
the trees and knows that the wind will carry 
the words of the oracle to the person for whom 
they are intended?” 

They were so terrified that they would have 
dropped on their knees with their foreheads 
pressed against the earth, had the sibyl stirred. 
But she sat as still as though she were lifeless. 
Crouching upon the outermost edge of the cliff, 
and shading her eyes with her hand, she peered 
out into the night. She sat there as if she had 
gone up on the hill that she might see more 
clearly something that was happening far away. 
She could see things on a night like this! 

At that moment the Emperor and all his 
retinue marked how profound the darkness was. 
None of them could see a hand’s breadth in 
front of him. And what stillness! What si- 
lence! Not even the Tiber’s hollow murmur 
could they hear. ‘The air seemed to suffocate 
them, cold sweat broke out on their foreheads, 
and their hands were numb and _ powerless. 
They feared that some dreadful disaster was 
impending. 


THE EMPEROR’S VISION 19 


But no one cared to show that he was afraid, 
and everyone told the Emperor that this was 
a good omen. All Nature held its breath to 
greet a new god. 

They counseled Augustus to hurry with the 
sacrifice, and said that the old sibyl had 
evidently come out of her cave to greet his 
genius. 

But the truth was that the old sibyl was so 
absorbed in a vision that she did not even know 
that Augustus had come up to the Capitol. She 
was transported in spirit to a far-distant land, 
where she imagined that she was wandering 
over a great plain. In the darkness she stubbed 
her foot continually against something, which 
she believed to be grass-tufts. She stooped down 
and felt with her hand. No, it was not grass, 
but sheep. She was walking between great 
sleeping flocks of sheep. 

Then she noticed the shepherds’ fire. It 
burned in the middle of the field, and she groped 
her way to it. The shepherds lay asleep by the 
fire, and beside them were the long, spiked 
staves with which they defended their flocks 
from wild beasts. But the little animals with 
the glittering eyes and the bushy tails that stole 
up to the fire, were they not jackals? And yet 
the shepherds did not fling their staves at them, 
the dogs continued to sleep, the sheep did not 


20 CHRIST LEGENDS 


flee, and the wild animals lay down to rest beside 
the human beings. 

This the sibyl saw, but she knew nothing of 
what was being enacted on the hill back of her. 
She did not know that there they were raising 
an altar, lighting charcoal and strewing incense, 
and that the Emperor took one of the doves 
from the cage to sacrifice it. But his hands were 
so benumbed that he could not hold the bird. 
With one stroke of the wing, it freed itself and 
disappeared in the night darkness. 

When this happened, the courtiers glanced 
suspiciously at the old sibyl. They believed that 
it was she who caused the misfortune. 

Could they know that all the while the sibyl 
thought herself standing beside the shepherds’ 
fire, and that she listened to a faint sound which 
came trembling through the dead-still night? 
She heard it long before she marked that it 
did not come from the earth, but from the sky. 
At last she raised her head; then she saw light, 
shimmering forms glide forward in the dark- 
ness. They were little flocks of angels, who, 
singing joyously, and apparently searching, flew 
back and forth above the wide plain. 

While the sibyl was listening to the angel- 
song, the Emperor was making preparations for 
a new sacrifice. He washed his hands, cleansed 
the altar, and took up the other dove. And, 


THE EMPEROR’S VISION 21 


although he exerted his full strength to hold 
it fast, the dove’s slippery body slid from his 
hand, and the bird swung itself up into the 
’ impenetrable night. 

The Emperor was appalled! He fell upon 
his knees and prayed to his genius. He im- 
plored him for strength to avert the disasters 
which this night seemed to foreshadow. 

Nor did the sibyl hear any of this either. She 
was listening with her whole soul to the angel- 
song, which grew louder and louder. At last 
it became so powerful that it wakened the shep- 
herds. They raised themselves on their elbows 
and saw shining hosts of silver-white angels 
move in the darkness in long, swaying lines, like 
migratory birds. Some held lutes and cymbals 
in their hands; others held zithers and harps, 
and their song rang out as merry as child- 
laughter, and as care-free as the lark’s trill. 
When the shepherds heard this, they rose up 
to go to the mountain city, where they lived, to 
tell of the miracle. 

They groped their way forward on a narrow, 
winding path, and the sibyl followed them. Sud- 
denly it grew light up there on the mountain: 
a big, clear star kindled right over it, and the 
‘city on the mountain summit glittered like silver 
in the starlight. All the fluttering angel throngs 
hastened thither, shouting for joy, and the shep- 


22 CHRIST LEGENDS 


herds hurried so that they almost ran. When 
they reached the city, they found that the angels 
had assembled over a low stable near the city 
gate. It was a wretched structure, with a roof 
of straw and the naked cliff for a back wall. 
Over it hung the Star, and hither flocked more 
and more angels. Some seated themselves on 
the straw roof or alighted upon the steep moun- 
tain-wall back of the house; others, again, held 
themselves in the air on outspread wings, and 
hovered over it. High, high up, the air was 
illuminated by the shining wings. 

The instant the Star kindled over the moun- 
tain city, all Nature awoke, and the men who 
stood upon Capitol Hill could not help seeing 
it. They felt fresh, but caressing winds which 
traveled through space; delicious perfumes 
streamed up about them; trees swayed; the 
Tiber began to murmur; the stars twinkled, and 
suddenly the moon stood out in the sky and lit 
up the world. And out of the clouds the two 
doves came circling down and lighted upon the 
Emperor’s shoulders. 

When this miracle happened, Augustus rose, 
proud and happy, but his friends and his slaves 
fell on their knees. 

“Hail, Cesar!” they cried. ‘‘ Thy genius 
hath answered thee. ‘Thou art the god who 
shall be worshiped on Capitol Hill!” 


THE EMPEROR’S VISION 23 


And this cry of homage, which the men in 
their transport gave as a tribute to the Emperor, 
was so loud that the old sibyl heard it. It waked 
her from her visions. She rose from her place 
on the edge of the cliff, and came down among 
the people. It was as if a dark cloud had 
arisen from the abyss and rushed down the 
mountain height. She was terrifying in her 
extreme age! Coarse hair hung in matted 
tangles around her head, her joints were 
enlarged, and the dark skin, hard as the bark 
of a tree, covered her body with furrow upon 
furrow. 

Potent and awe-inspiring, she advanced to- 
ward the Emperor. With one hand she clutched 
his wrist, with the other she pointed toward 
the distant East. 

** Look! ”’ she commanded, and the Emperor 
raised his eyes and saw. The vaulted heavens 
opened before his eyes, and his glance traveled 
to the distant Orient. He saw a lowly stable 
behind a steep rock wall, and in the open door- 
way a few shepherds kneeling. Within the 
stable he saw a young mother on her knees 
before a little child, who lay upon a bundle of 
straw on the floor. 

And the sibyl’s big, knotty fingers pointed to- 
ward the poor babe. ‘‘ Hail, Cesar!”’ cried the 
sibyl, in a burst of scornful laughter. ‘‘ There 


24 CHRIST LEGENDS 


is the god who shall be worshiped on Capitol 
Hill! ” 

Then Augustus shrank back from her, as 
from a maniac. But upon the sibyl fell the 
mighty spirit of prophecy. Her dim eyes be- 
gan to burn, her hands were stretched toward 
heaven, her voice was so changed that it seemed 
not to be her own, but rang out with such 
resonance and power that it could have been 
heard over the whole world. And she uttered 
words which she appeared to be reading among 
the stars. 

‘“Upon Capitol Hill shall the Redeemer of 
the world be worshiped,—Christ—but not — 
frail mortals.” 

When she had said this, she strode past the 
terror-stricken men, walked slowly down the 
mountain, and disappeared. 

But, on the following day, Augustus strictly 
forbade the people to raise any temple to him 
on Capitol Hill. In place of it he built a sanc- 
tuary to the new-born God-Child, and called it 
HEAVEN’sS ALTAR—4ra Cali. 


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THE 
WISE MENS: WELL 




















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THE WISE MEN’S WELL 


N old Judea the Drought crept, gaunt and 
hollow-eyed, between shrunken thistles and 
yellowed grass. 

It was summertime. ‘The sun beat down upon 
the backs of unshaded hills, and the slightest 
breath of wind tore up thick clouds of lime dust 
from the grayish-white ground. The herds 
stood huddled together in the valleys, by the 
dried-up streams. 

The Drought walked about and viewed the 
water supplies. He wandered over to Solomon’s 
Pools, and sighed as he saw that they still held 
a small quantity of water from their mountain 
sources. Then he journeyed down to the fa- 
mous David’s Well, near Bethlehem, and found 
water even there. Finally, he tramped with 
shuffling gait toward the great highway which 
leads from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. 

When he had arrived about half-way, he saw 
the Wise Men’s Well, where it stands close by 
the roadside. He saw at a glance that it was 
almost dry. He seated himself on the curb, 
which consists of a single stone hollowed out, 
and looked into the well. The shining water- 

27 


28 CHRIST LEGENDS 


mirror, which usually was seen very near the 
opening, had sunk deep down, and the dirt and 
slime at the bottom of the well made it muddy 
and impure. . 

When the Well beheld the Drought’s bronzed 
visage reflected in her clouded mirror, she shook 
with anguish. 

“I wonder when you will be exhausted,” said 
the Drought. ‘Surely, you do not expect to 
find any fresh water source, down there in the 
deep, to come and give you new life; and as for 
rain—God be praised! there can be no question 
of that for the next two or three months.” 

‘“You may rest content,” sighed the Well, 
‘for nothing can help me now. It would take 
no less than a well-spring from Paradise to save 
me!” 

‘Then I will not forsake you until every drop 
has been drained,” said the Drought. He saw 
that the old Well was nearing its end, and now 
he wanted to have the pleasure of seeing it die 
out drop by drop. 

He seated himself comfortably on the edge of 
the curb, and rejoiced as he heard how the 
Well sighed down there in the deep. He also 
took a keen delight in watching the thirsty way- 
farers come up to the well-curb, let down the 
bucket, and draw it up again, with only a few 
drops of muddy water. 


THE WISE MEN’S WELL 29 


Thus the whole day passed; and when dark- 
ness descended, the Drought looked again into 
the Well. A little water still shimmered down 
there. ‘I'll stay here all night,” cried he, “ so 
do not hurry yourself! When it grows so light 
that I can look into you once more, I am certain 
that all will be over with you.” 

The Drought curled himself up on the edge 
of the well-curb, while the hot night, which was 
even more cruel, and more full of torment than 
the day had been, descended over Judea. Dogs 
and jackals howled incessantly, and thirsty cows 
and asses answered them from their stuffy stalls. 

When the breeze stirred a little now and then, 
it brought with it no relief, but was as hot and 
suffocating as a great sleeping monster’s panting 
breath. The stars shone with the most resplen- 
dent brilliancy, and a little silvery new moon cast 
a pretty blue-green light over the gray hills. 
And in this light the Drought saw a great cara- 
van come marching toward the hill where the 
Wise Men’s Well was situated. 

The Drought sat and gazed at the long pro- 
cession, and rejoiced again at the thought of 
all the thirst which was coming to the well, and 
would not find one drop of water with which 
to slake itself. ‘There were so many animals 
and drivers they could easily have emptied the 
Well, even if it had been quite full. Suddenly 


30 CHRIST LEGENDS 


he began to think there was something unusual, 
something ghost-like, about this caravan which 
came marching forward in the night. First, all 
the camels came within sight on a hill, which 
loomed up, high and distinct, against the hori- 
zon; it was as though they had stepped straight 
down from heaven. ‘They also appeared to be 
larger than ordinary camels, and bore—all too 
lightly—the enormous burdens which weighted 
them. 

Still he could not understand anything but 
that they were absolutely real, for to him they 
were just as plain as plain could be. He could 
even see that the three foremost animals were 
dromedaries, with gray, shiny skins; and that 
they were richly bridled and saddled, with 
fringed coverings, and were ridden by hand- 
some, noble-looking knights. 

The whole procession stopped at the well. 
With three sharp jerks, the dromedaries lay 
down on the ground, and their riders dis- 
mounted. ‘The pack-camels remained standing, 
and as they assembled they seemed to form a 
long line of necks and humps and peculiarly 
piled-up packs. 

Immediately, the riders came up to the 
Drought and greeted him by laying their hands 
upon their foreheads and breasts. He saw that 
they wore dazzling white robes and huge tur- 


THE WISE MEN’S WELL 31 


bans, on the front of each of which there was a 
clear, glittering star, which shone as if it had 
been taken direct from the skies. 

‘We come from a far-off land,” said one of 
the strangers, ‘‘ and we bid thee tell us if this 
is in truth the Wise Men’s Well? ” 

“It is called so to-day,” said the Drought, 
“but by to-morrow there will be no well here. 
It shall die to-night.” 

‘““T can understand this, as I see thee here,”’ 
said the man. “But is not this one of the 
sacred wells, which never run dry? or whence 
hath it derived its name? ” 

‘| know it is sacred,” said the Drought, “‘ but 
what good will that do? ‘The three wise men 
are in Paradise.” 

The three travelers exchanged glances. 
“Dost thou really know the history of this 
ancient well? ”’ asked they. 

‘TI know the history of all wells and fountains 
and brooks and rivers,” said the Drought, with 
pride. 

“Then grant us a pleasure, and tell us the 
story!’ begged the strangers; and they seated 
themselves around the old enemy to everything 
growing, and listened. 

The Drought shook himself and crawled up 
on the well-curb, like a story-teller upon his 
improvised throne, and began his tale. 


32 CHRIST LEGENDS 


“In Gebas, in Media, a city which lies near 
the border of the desert—and, therefore, it has 
often been a free and well-beloved city to me,— 
there lived, many, many years ago, three men 
who were famed for their wisdom. 

‘They were also very poor, which was a most 
uncommon state of affairs; for, in Gebas, knowl- 
edge was held in high esteem, and was well 
recompensed. With these men, however, it 
could hardly have been otherwise, for one of 
them was very old, one was afflicted with lep- 
rosy, and the third was a black, thick-lipped 
negro. People regarded the first as much too 
old to teach them anything; the second they 
avoided for fear of contagion; and the third 
they would not listen to, because they thought 
they knew that no wisdom had ever come from 
Ethiopia. 

‘* Meanwhile, the three wise ones became 
united through their common misery. They 
begged during the day at the same temple gate, 
and at night they slept on the same roof. In 
this way they at least had an opportunity to 
while away the hours, by meditating upon all 
the wonderful things which they observed in 
Nature and in the human race. 

‘One night, as they slept side by side on a 
roof, which was overgrown with stupefying red 
poppies, the eldest among them awoke; and 


THE WISE MEN’S WELL 33 


hardly had he cast a glance around him, be- 
fore he wakened the other two. 

‘*** Praised be our poverty, which compels us 
to sleep in the open!’ he said to them. ‘ Awake! 
and raise your eyes to heaven! ’ 

“Well,” said the Drought, in a somewhat 
milder tone, ‘‘ this was a night which no one 
who witnessed it can ever forget! The skies 
were so bright that the heavens, which usually 
resemble an arched vault, looked deep and trans- 
parent and full of waves, like a sea. The light 
surged backwards and forwards and the stars 
swam in their varying depths: some in among 
the light-waves; others upon the surface. 

‘* But farthest away and highest up, the three 
men saw a faint shadow appear. This shadow 
traveled through space like a ball, and came 
nearer and nearer, and, as the ball approached, 
it began to brighten. But it brightened as roses 
do—may God let them all wither !—when they 
burst from their buds. It grew bigger and 
bigger, the dark cover about it turned back by 
degrees, and light broke forth on its sides into 
four distinct leaves. Finally, when it had de- 
scended to the nearest of the stars, it came to a 
standstill. Then the dark lobes curled them- 
selves back and unfolded leaf upon leaf of beau- 
tiful, shimmering, rose-colored light, until it 
was perfect, and shone like a star among stars. 


34 CHRIST LEGENDS 


‘When the poor men beheld this, their wis- 
dom told them that at this moment a mighty 
king was born on earth: one, whose majesty 
and power should rise higher than that of Cyrus 
or of Alexander; and they said to one another: 
‘Let us go to the father and mother of the 
new-born babe and tell them what we have seen! 
Mayhap they will reward us with a purse of coin 
or a bracelet of gold.’ 

“They grasped their long traveling staves 
and went forth. They wandered through the 
city and out from the city gate; but there they 
felt doubtful for a moment as they saw before 
them the great stretch of dry, smooth desert, 
which human beings dread. Then they saw the 
new star cast a narrow stream of light across 
the desert sand, and they wandered confidently 
forward with the star as their guide. 

‘All night long they tramped over the wide 
sand-plain, and throughout the entire journey 
they talked about the young, new-born king, 
whom they should find reposing in a cradle of 
gold, playing with precious stones. They whiled 
away the hours by talking over how they should 
approach his father, the king, and his mother, 
the queen, and tell them that the heavens au- 
gured for their son power and beauty and joy, 
greater than Solomon’s. They prided them- 
selves upon the fact that God had called them 


THE WISE MEN’S WELL 35 


to see the Star. They said to themselves that 
the parents of the new-born babe would not 
reward them with less than twenty purses of 
gold; perhaps they would give them so much 
gold that they no longer need suffer the pangs 
of poverty. 

‘“*T lay in wait on the desert like a lion,” said 
the Drought, ‘‘and intended to throw myself 
upon these wanderers with all the agonies of 
thirst, but they eluded me. All night the Star 
had led them, and on the morrow, when the 
heavens brightened and all the other stars grew 
pale, it remained steady and illumined the desert, 
and then guided them to an oasis where they 
found a spring and a ripe, fruit-bearing tree. 
There they rested all that day. And toward 
night, as they saw the Star’s rays border the 
sands, they went on. 

“From the human way of looking at things,” 
continued the Drought, “it was a delightful 
journey. The Star led them in such a way that 
they did not have to suffer either hunger or 
thirst. It led them past the sharp thistles, it 
avoided the thick, loose, flying sand; they 
escaped the burning sunshine and the hot 
desert storms. The three wise men said re- 
peatedly to one another: ‘God is protecting 
us and blessing our journey. We are His 
messengers.’ 


36 CHRIST LEGENDS 


‘““ Then, by degrees, they fell into my power,” 
said the Drought. ‘“ These star-wanderers’ 
hearts became transformed into as dry a desert 
as the one which they traveled through. They 
were filled with impotent pride and destructive 
greed. . 

‘““* We are God’s messengers!’ repeated the 
three wise ones. ‘The father of the new-born 
king will not reward us too well, even if he 
gives us a caravan laden with gold.’ 

‘* By and by, the Star led them over the far- 
famed River Jordan, and up among the hills 
of Judea. One night it stood still over the little 
city of Bethlehem, which lay upon a hill-top, and 
shone among the olive trees. 

‘But the three wise ones looked around for 
castles and fortified towers and walls, and all 
the other things that belong to a royal city; but 
of such they saw nothing. And what was sti]l 
worse, the Star’s light did not even lead them 
into the city, but remained over a grotto near 
the wayside. There, the soft light stole in 
through the opening and revealed to the three 
wanderers a little Child, who was being lulled 
to sleep in its mother’s arms. 

‘ Although the three men saw how the Star’s 
light encircled the Child’s head, like a crown, 
they remained standing outside the grotto. They 
did not enter to prophesy honors and kingdoms 


THE WISE MEN’S WELL 37 


for this little One. They turned away without 
betraying their presence. They fled from the 
Child, and wandered down the hill again. 

‘“““ Fave we come in search of beggars as 
poor as ourselves?’ said they. ‘Has God 
brought us hither that we might mock Him, 
and predict honors for a shepherd’s son? This 
Child will never attain any higher distinction 
than to tend sheep here in the valleys.’ ”’ 

The Drought chuckled to himself and nod- 
ded to his hearers, as much as to say: “Am 
I not right? There are things which are drier 
than the desert sands, but there is nothing more 
barren than the human heart.” 

‘The three wise ones had not wandered very 
far before they thought they had gone astray 
and had not followed the Star rightly,” con- 
tinued the Drought. ‘‘ They turned their gaze 
upward to find again the Star, and the right 
road; but then the Star which they had followed 
all the way from the Orient had vanished from 
the heavens.” - 

The three strangers made a quick movement, 
and their faces expressed deep suffering. 

“That which now happened,” continued the 
Drought, ‘is in accord with the usual manner 
of mankind in judging of what is, perhaps, a 
blessing. — 

‘To be sure, when the three wise men no 


38 CHRIST LEGENDS 


longer saw the Star, they understood at once 
that they had sinned against God. 

‘‘ And it happened with them,” continued the 
Drought furiously, ‘‘ just as it happens with the 
ground in the autumn, when the heavy rains 
begin to fall. They shook with terror, as one 
shakes when it thunders and lightens; their 
whole being softened, and humility, like green 
grass, sprang up in their souls. 

“For three nights and days they wandered 
about the country, in quest of the Child whom 
they would worship; but the Star did not ap- 
pear to them. ‘They grew more and more be- 
wildered, and suffered the most overwhelming 
anguish and despair. On the third day they 
came to this well to drink. Then God had par- 
doned their sin. And, as they bent over the 
water, they saw in its depths the reflection of the 
Star which had brought them from the Orient. 
Instantly they saw it also in the heavens and it 
led them again to the grotto in Bethlehem, 
where they fell upon their knees before the 
Child and said: ‘ We bring thee golden vessels 
filled with incense and costly spices. Thou shalt 
be the greatest king that ever lived upon earth, 
from its creation even unto its destruction.’ 

“Then the Child laid his hand upon their 
lowered heads, and when they rose, lo! the Child 
had given them gifts greater than a king could 


THE WISE MEN’S WELL 39 


have granted; for the old beggar had grown 
young, the leper was made whole, and the negro 
was transformed into a beautiful white man. 
And it is said of them that they were glorious! 
and that they departed and became kings—each 
in his own kingdom.” 

The Drought paused in his story, and the 
three strangers praised it. ‘‘ Thou hast spoken 
well,” said they. “* But it surprises me,” said 
one of them, “‘ that the three wise men do noth- 
ing for the well which showed them the Star. 
Shall they entirely forget such a great blessing ?”’ 

‘Should not this well remain perpetually,” 
said the second stranger, “to remind mankind 
that happiness, which is lost on the heights of 
pride and vainglory, will let itself be found 
again in the depths of humility?” 

“Are the departed worse than the living?” 
asked the third. ‘‘ Does gratitude die with those 
who live in Paradise? ” 

But as he heard this, the Drought sprang up 
with a wild cry. He had recognized the 
strangers! He understood who the strangers 
were, and fled from them like a madman, that 
he might not witness how The Three Wise Men 
called their servants and led their camels, laden 
with water-sacks, to the Well and filled the poor 
dying Well with water, which they had brought 
with them from Paradise. 





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fz secid a 
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| BETHLENEAS 





























BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 


UST outside the Bethlehem gate stood a 
Roman soldier, on guard. He was arrayed 
in full armor, with helmet. At his side he wore 
a short sword, and held in his hand a long 
spear. He stood there all day almost motion- 
less, so that one could readily have believed 
him to be a man made of iron. The city people 
went in and out of the gate and beggars lolled 
in the shade under the archway, fruit venders 
and wine dealers set their baskets and jugs down 
on the ground beside the soldier, but he scarcely 
took the trouble to turn his head to look at 
them. © 
It seemed as though he wanted to say: This 
is nothing to see. What do I care about you 
who labor and barter and come driving with 
oil casks and wine sacks! Let me see an army 
prepare to meet the enemy! Let me see the 
excitement and the hot struggle, when horsemen 
charge down upon a troop of foot-soldiers! 
Let me see the brave men who rush forward 
to scale the walls of a beleaguered city! Noth- 
ing is pleasing to my sight but war. I long 
to see the Roman Eagles glisten in the air! I 
43 


44 CHRIST LEGENDS 


long for the trumpets’ blast, for shining weap- 
ons, for the splash of red blood! 

Just beyond the city gate lay a fine meadow, 
overgrown with lilies. Day by day the soldier 
stood with his eyes turned toward this meadow, 
but never for a moment did he think of admiring 
the extraordinary beauty of the flowers. Some- 
times he noticed that the passers-by stopped to 
admire the lilies, and it amazed him to think 
that people would delay their travels to look 
at anything so trivial. These people do not 
know what is beautiful, thought he. 

And as he thought thus, he saw no more the 
green fields and olive groves round about Beth- 
lehem; but dreamed himself away in a burning- 
hot desert in sunny Libya. He saw a legion of 
soldiers march forward in a long, straight line 
over the yellow, trackless sand. There was no 
protection against the sun’s piercing rays, no 
cooling stream, no apparent boundaries to the 
desert, and no goal in sight, no end to their 
wanderings. He saw soldiers, exhausted by 
hunger and thirst, march forward with faltering 
step; he saw one after another drop to the 
ground, overcome by the scorching heat. Never- 
theless, they marched onward without a mur- 
mur, without a thought of deserting their leader 
and turning back. 

Now, there is something beautiful! thought 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 45 


the soldier, something that is worth the glance 
of a valiant man! 

Since the soldier stood on guard at the same 
post day after day, he had the best opportu- 
nity to watch the pretty children who played 
about him. But it was with the children as 
with the flowers: he didn’t understand that it 
could be worth his while to notice them. What 
is this to rejoice over? thought he, when he saw 
people smile as they watched the children’s 
games. It is strange that any one can find pleas- 
ure in a mere nothing. | 

One day when the soldier was standing at his 
accustomed post, he saw a little boy about three 
years old come out on the meadow to play. He 
was a poor lad, who was dressed in a scanty 
sheepskin, and who played quite by himself. 
The soldier stood and regarded the newcomer 
almost without being aware of it himself. The 
first thing that attracted him was that the little 
one ran so lightly over the field that he seemed 
scarcely to touch the tips of the grass-blades. 
Later, as he followed the child’s play, he was 
even more astonished. ‘‘ By my sword!” he 
exclaimed, ‘“‘ this child does not play like the 
others. What can it be that occupies him? ”’ 

As the child played only a few paces away, he 
could see well enough what the little one was 
doing. He saw how he reached out his hand 


46 CHRIST LEGENDS 


to capture a bee that sat upon the edge of a 
flower and was so heavily laden with pollen 
that it could hardly lift its wings for flight. He 
saw, to his great surprise, that the bee !et itself 
be taken without trying to escape, and without 
using its sting. When the little one held the 
bee secure between his fingers, he ran over to a 
crack in the city wall, where a swarm of bees 
had their home, and set the bee down. As soon 
as he had helped one bee in this way, he hastened 
back to help another. All day long the soldier 
saw him catch bees and carry them to their 
home. 

“That boy is certainly more foolish than 
any I’ve seen hitherto,” thought the soldier. 
‘“ What put it into his head to try and help 
these bees, who can take such good care of 
themselves without him, and who can sting him 
at that? What kind of a man will he become 
if he lives, I wonder? ” 

The little one came back day after day and 
played in the meadow, and the soldier couldn’t 
help marveling at him and his games. 

“Tt is very strange,” thought he. “ Here I 
have stood on guard for fully three years, and 
thus far I have seen nothing that could interest 
me, except this infant.” 

But the soldier was in nowise pleased with 
the child; quite the reverse! For this child re- 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 47 


minded him of a dreadful prediction made by 
an old Hebrew seer, who had prophesied that 
a time of peace should come to this world some 
day; during a period of a thousand years no 
blood would be shed, no wars waged, but human 
beings would love one another like brethren. 
When the soldier thought that anything so 
dreadful might really come to pass, a shudder 
passed through his body, and he gripped his 
spear hard, as if he sought support. 

And now, the more the soldier saw of the 
little one and his play, the more he thought of 
the Thousand-year Reign of Peace. He did not 
fear that it had come already, but he did not 
like to be reminded of anything so hateful! 

One day, when the little one was playing 
among the flowers on the pretty meadow, a very 
heavy shower came bursting through the clouds. 
When he noticed how big and heavy the drops 
were that beat down upon the sensitive lilies, 
he seemed anxious for his pretty friends. He 
hurried away to the biggest and loveliest among 
them, and bent towards the ground the stiff 
stalk which held up the lily, so that the rain- 
drops caught the chalices on their under side. 
As soon as he had treated one flower like this, 
he ran to another and bent its stem in the same 
way, so that the flower-cups were turned to- 

ward the ground: And then to a third and a 


48 CHRIST LEGENDS 


fourth, until all the flowers in the meadow were 
protected against the rainfall. 

The soldier smiled to himself when he saw 
the boy’s work. ‘I’m afraid the lilies won’t 
thank him for this,” saidhe. ‘ Naturally, every 
stalk is broken. It will never do to bend such 
stiff growths in that way!” 

But when the shower was over, the soldier 
saw the little lad hurry over to the lilies and 
raise them up. To his utter astonishment, the 
boy straightened the stiff stalks without the least 
difficulty. It was apparent that not one of them 
was either broken or bruised. He ran from 
flower to flower, and soon all the rescued lilies 
shone in their full splendor in the meadow. 

When the soldier saw this, he was seized with 
a singular rage. ‘“‘ What a queer child! ” thought 
he. ‘“‘ It is incredible that he can undertake any- 
thing so idiotic. What kind of a man will he 
make, who cannot even bear to see a lily de- 
stroyed? How would it turn out if such a one 
had to go to war? What would he do if they 
ordered him to burn a house filled with women 
and children, or to sink a ship with all souls 
on board?” 

Again he thought of the old prophecy, and he 
began to fear that the time had actually come 
for its fulfilment. ‘‘ Since a child like this is 
here,” thought he, “‘ perhaps this awful time is 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 49 


very close at hand. Already, peace prevails over 
the whole earth; and surely the day of war will 
nevermore dawn. From this time forth, all peo- 
ples will be of the same mind as this child: they 
will be afraid to injure one another, yea, they 
will not have the heart even to crush a bee or a 
flower! No great deeds will be done, no glori- 
ous battles won, and no brilliant triumvirate will 
march up to the Capitol. Nothing more will 
happen that a brave man could long for.” 

And the soldier—who all the while hoped he 
would soon live through new wars and longed, 
through daring feats, to raise himself to power 
and riches—felt so exasperated with the little 
three-year-old that he raised his spear threat- 
eningly the next time the child ran past. 

Another day it was neither the bees nor the 
lilies the little one sought to protect, but he 
undertook something which struck the soldier 
as being much more needless and thankless. 

It was a fearfully hot day, and the sunrays 
fell upon the soldier’s helmet and armor and 
heated them until he felt as if he wore a suit 
of fire. To the passers-by it looked as if he 
must suffer tortures from the heat. His blood- 
shot eyes were ready to burst from their sockets, 
and his lips were dry and shriveled. But as he 
was inured to the burning heat of African des- 
erts, he thought this a mere trifle, and it didn’t 


50 CHRIST LEGENDS 


occur to him to move from his accustomed place. 
On the contrary, he took pleasure in showing 
the passers-by that he was so strong and hardy 
and did not need to seek shelter from the sun. 

While he stood thus, and let himself be nearly 
broiled alive, the little boy who was wont to 
play in the meadow came suddenly up to him. 
He knew very well that the soldier was not one 
of his friends and so he was always careful not 
to come within reach of his spear; but now he 
ran up to him, and regarded him long and 
carefully; then he hurried as fast as he could 
towards the road. When he came back, he 
held both hands like a bowl, and carried in this 
way a few drops of water. 

‘“ Mayhap this infant has taken it upon him- 
self to run and fetch water for me,” thought the 
soldier. ‘“ He is certainly wanting in common 
sense. Should not a Roman soldier be able to 
stand a little heat! What need for that young- 
ster to run around and help those who require 
no help! I don’t want his compassion. I wish 
he and all like him were out of the world! ” 

The little one came walking very slowly. He 
held his fingers close together, so that nothing 
should be spilled or wasted. All the while, as 
he was nearing the soldier, he kept his eyes 
anxiously fixed upon the little water which he 
brought with him, and did not see that the man 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 51 


stood there frowning, with a forbidding look 
in his eye. Then the child came up to the 
soldier and offered him the water. 

On the way his heavy blond curls had tum- 
bled down over his forehead and eyes. He 
shook his head several times to get the hair out 
of his eyes, so that he could look up. When 
he succeeded at last, and became conscious of 
the hard expression on the soldier’s face, he was 
not frightened, but stood still and begged him, 
with a bewitching smile, to taste of the water 
which he had brought with him. But the soldier 
felt no desire to accept a kindness from the 
child, whom he regarded as his enemy. He did 
not look down into his pretty face, but stood 
rigid and immovable, and showed no sign 
that he understood what the child wished to do 
for him. 

Nor could the child understand that the man 
wished to repel him. He smiled all the while 
just as confidently, raised himself on the tips of 
his toes, and stretched his hands as high as he 
could that the big soldier might more easily get 
at the water. 

The soldier felt so insulted because a mere 
child wished to help him that he gripped his 
spear to drive the little one away. 

But just at that moment the extreme heat 
and sunshine beat down upon the soldier with 


52 CHRIST LEGENDS 


such intensity that he saw red flames dance be- 
fore his eyes and felt his brains melt within 
his head. He feared the sun would kill him, if 
he could not find instant relief. 

Beside himself with terror at the danger hov- 
ering over him, the soldier threw his spear on 
the ground, seized the child with both hands, 
lifted him up, and absorbed as much as he could 
of the water which the little one held in his 
hands. 

Only a few drops touched his tongue, but 
more was not needed. As soon as he had 
tasted of the water, a delicious coolness surged 
through his body, and he felt no more that the 
helmet and armor burnt and oppressed him. 
The sunrays had lost their deadly power. 
His dry lips became soft and moist again, 
and red flames no longer danced before his 
eyes. 

Before he had time to realize all this, he 
had already put down the child, who ran back 
to the meadow to play. Astonished, the soldier 
began to say to himself: ‘‘ What kind of water 
was this that the child gave me? It was a 
glorious drink! I must really show him my 
gratitude.” 

But inasmuch as he hated the little one, he 
soon dismissed this idea. ‘It is only a child,” 
thought he, ‘‘ and does not know why he acts in 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 53 


this way or that way. He plays only the play 
that pleases him best. Does he perhaps receive 
any gratitude from the bees or the lilies? On 
that youngster’s account I need give myself no 
trouble. He doesn’t even know that he has suc- 
cored me.” 

The soldier felt, if possible, even more ex- 
asperated with the child a moment later, when 
he saw the commander of the Roman soldiers, 
who were encamped in Bethlehem, come out 
through the gate. ‘‘ Just see what a risk I have 
run through that little one’s rash behavior! ” 
thought he. “If by chance Voltigius had come 
a moment earlier, he would have seen me stand- 
ing with a child in my arms.” 

Meanwhile, the Commander walked straight 
up to the soldier and asked him if they might 
speak together there without danger of being 
overheard. He had a secret to impart to him. 
‘“ Tf we move ten paces from the gate,” replied 
the soldier, “‘ no one can hear us.” 

‘You know,” said the Commander, “ that 
King Herod, time and again, has tried to get 
possession of a child that is growing up here 
in Bethlehem. His soothsayers and priests have 
told him that this child shall ascend his throne. 
Moreover, they have predicted that the new 
King will inaugurate a thousand-year reign of 
peace and holiness. You understand, of course, 


54 CHRIST LEGENDS 


that Herod would willingly make him— 
HArMLEss! ” 

‘““T understand!” said the soldier eagerly. 
‘“‘ But that ought to be the easiest thing in the 
world.” | 

“Tt would certainly be very easy,” said the 
Commander, “if the King only knew which 
one of all the children here in Bethlehem is 
THE ONE.” 

The soldier knit his brows. “It is a pity 
his soothsayers can not enlighten him about 
this,” said he. 

‘* But now Herod has hit upon a ruse, whereby 
he believes he can make the young Peace-Prince 
harmless,” continued the Commander. ‘‘ He 
promises a handsome gift to each and all who 
will help him.” 

‘“Whatsoever Voltigius commands shall be 
carried out, even without money or gifts,”’ said 
the soldier. 

“IT thank you,” replied the Commander. 
“ Listen, now, to the King’s plan! He intends 
to celebrate the birthday of his youngest son by 
arranging a festival, to which all male children 
in Bethlehem, who are between the ages of two 
and three years, shall be bidden, together with 
their mothers. And during this festival fs 
He checked himself suddenly, and laughed when 
he saw the look of disgust on the soldier’s face. 





BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 55 


“My friend,” he continued, “ you need not 
fear that Herod thinks of using us as child- 
nurses. Now bend your ear to my mouth, and 
I'll confide to you his design.” 

The Commander whispered long with the sol- 
dier, and when he had disclosed all, he said: 

‘““T need hardly tell you that absolute si- 
lence is imperative, lest the whole undertaking 
miscarry.”” 

“You know, Voltigius, that you can rely on 
me,”’ said the soldier. 

When the Commander had gone and the sol- 
dier once more stood alone at his post, he looked 
around for the child. The little one played all 
the while among the flowers, and the soldier 
caught himself thinking that the boy swayed 
above them as light and attractive as a butterfly. 

Suddenly he began to laugh. ‘“ True,”’ said 
he, “I shall not have to vex myself very long 
over this child. He shall be bidden to the feast 
of Herod this evening.” 

He remained at his post all that day, until 
the even was come, and it was time to close 
the city gate for the night. 

When this was done, he wandered through 
narrow and dark streets, to a splendid palace 
which Herod owned in Bethlehem. 

In the center of this immense palace was a 
large stone-paved court encircled by buildings, 


56 CHRIST LEGENDS 


aroundwhich ran three open galleries, one above 
the other. The King had ordered that the fes- 
tival for the Bethlehem children should be held 
on the uppermost of these galleries. 

This gallery, by the King’s express command, 
was transformed so that it looked like a covered 
walk in a beautiful flower-garden. The ceiling 
was hidden by creeping vines hung with thick 
clusters of luscious grapes, and alongside the 
walls, and against the pillars stood small pome- 
granate trees, laden with ripe fruit. The floors 
were strewn with rose-leaves, lying thick and 
soft like a carpet. And all along the balus- 
trades, the cornices, the tables, and the low 
divans, ran garlands of lustrous white lilies. 

Here and there in this flower garden’ stood 
great marble basins where glittering gold and 
silver fish played in the transparent water. 
Multi-colored birds from distant lands sat in 
the trees, and in a cage sat an old raven that 
chattered incessantly. 

When the festival began children and mothers 
filed into the gallery. Immediately after they 
had entered the palace, the children were ar- 
rayed in white dresses with purple borders and 
were given wreaths of roses for their dark, 
curly heads. The women came in, regal, in 
their crimson and blue robes, and their white 
veils, which hung in long, loose folds from high- 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN §7 


peaked head-dresses, adorned with gold coins 
and chains. Some carried their children mounted 
upon their shoulders; others led their sons by 
the hand; some, again, whose children were 
afraid or shy, had taken them up in their arms. 

The women seated themselves on the floor of 
the gallery. As soon as they had taken their 
places, slaves came in and placed before them 
low tables, which they spread with the choicest 
of foods and wines—as befitting a King’s feast 
—-and all these happy mothers began to eat and 
drink, maintaining all the while that proud, 
graceful dignity, which is the greatest ornament 
of the Bethlehem women. 

Along the farthest wall of the gallery, and 
almost hidden by flower-garlands and fruit trees, 
was stationed a double line of soldiers in full 
armor. ‘They stood, perfectly immovable, as if 
they had no concern with that which went on 
around them. ‘The women could not refrain 
from casting a questioning glance, now and then, 
at this troop of iron-clad men. ‘“ For what are 
they needed here?” they whispered. ‘‘ Does 
Herod think we women do not know how to 
conduct ourselves? Does he believe it is neces- 
sary for so many soldiers to guard us?” 

But others whispered that this was as it should 
be in a King’s home. Herod himself never gave 
a banquet without having his house filled with 


58 CHRIST LEGENDS 


soldiers. It was to honor them that the heavily 
armored warriors stood there on guard. 

During the first few moments of the feast, 
the children felt timid and uncertain, and sat 
quietly beside their mothers. But soon they 
began to move about and take possession of all 
the good things which Herod offered them. 

It was an enchanted land that the King had 
created for his little guests. When they wan- 
dered through the gallery, they found bee-hives 
whose honey they could pillage without the in- 
terference of a single crotchety bee. They found 
trees which, bending, lowered their fruit-laden 
branches down to them. Ina corner they found 
magicians who, on the instant, conjured their 
pockets full of toys; and in another corner they 
discovered a wild-beast tamer who showed them 
a pair of tigers, so tame that they could ride 
them. 

But in this paradise with all its joys there was 
nothing which so attracted the attention of these 
little ones as the long line of soldiers who stood 
immovable at the extreme end of the gallery. 
Their eyes were captivated by their shining 
helmets, their stern, haughty faces, and their 
short swords, which reposed in richly jeweled 
sheaths. 

All the while, as they played and romped with 
one another, they thought continually about the 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 59 


soldiers. ‘They still held themselves at a dis- 
tance, but they longed to get near the men to 
see if they were alive and really could move 
themselves. 

The play and festivities increased every mo- 
ment, but the soldiers stood all the while im- 
movable. It seemed incredible to the little ones 
that people could stand so near the clusters of 
grapes and all the other dainties, without reach- 
ing out a hand to take them. 

Finally, there was one boy who couldn’t re- 
strain his curiosity any longer. Slowly, but pre- 
pared for hasty retreat, he approached one of 
the armored men; and when he remained just 
as rigid and motionless, the child came nearer 
and nearer. At last he was so close to him that 
he could touch his shoe latchets and his shins. 

Then—as though this had been an unheard-of 
crime—all at once these iron-men set themselves 
in motion. With indescribable fury they threw 
themselves upon the children, and seized them! 
Some swung them over their heads, like missiles, 
and flung them between lamps and garlands over 
the balustrade and down to the court, where 
they were killed the instant they struck the 
stone pavement. Others drew their swords and 
pierced the children’s hearts; others, again, 
crushed their heads against the walls before they 
threw them down into the dark courtyard. 


60 CHRIST LEGENDS 


The first moment after the onslaught, there 
was an ominous stillness. While the tiny bodies 
still swayed in the air, the women were petrified 
with amazement! But simultaneously all these 
unhappy mothers awoke to understand what 
had happened, and with one great cry they 
rushed toward the soldiers. There were still 
a few children left up in the gallery who had 
not been captured during the first attack. The 
soldiers pursued them and their mothers threw 
themselves in front of them and clutched with 
bare hands the naked swords, to avert the death- 
blow. Several women, whose children were 
already dead, threw themselves upon the sol- 
diers, clutched them by the throat, and sought 
to avenge the death of their little ones by 
strangling their murderers. 

During this wild confusion, while fearful 
shrieks rang through the palace, and the most 
inhuman death cruelties were being enacted, the 
soldier who was wont to stand on guard at the 
city gate stood motionless at the head of the 
stairs which led down from the gallery. He 
took no part in the strife and the murder: only 
against the women who had succeeded in snatch- 
ing their children and tried to fly down the 
stairs with them did he lift his sword. And 
just the sight of him, where he stood, grim and 
inflexible, was so terrifying that the fleeing ones 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 61 


chose rather to cast themselves over the balus- 
trade or turn back into the heat of the strug- 
gle, than risk the danger of crowding past 
him. 

 Voltigius certainly did the right thing when 
he gave me this post,” thought the soldier. “ A 
young and thoughtless warrior would have left 
his place and rushed into the confusion. If I 
had let myself be tempted away from here, ten 
children at least would have escaped.” 

While he was thinking of this, a young 
woman, who had snatched up her child, came 
rushing towards him in hurried flight. None 
of the warriors whom she had to pass could stop 
her, because they were in the midst of the strug- 
gle with other women, and in this way she had 
reached the end of the gallery. 

‘“ Ah, there’s one who is about to escape! ” 
thought the soldier. ‘‘ Neither she nor the child 
is wounded.” 

The woman came toward the soldier with 
such speed that she appeared to be flying, and 
he didn’t have time to distinguish the features 
of either the woman or her child. He only 
pointed his sword at them, and the woman, with 
the child in her arms, dashed against it. He 
expected that the next second both she and 
the child would fall to the ground pierced 
through and through. 


62 CHRIST LEGENDS 


But just then the soldier heard an angry buzz- 
ing over his head, and the next instant he felt 
a sharp pain in one eye. It was so intense that 
he was stunned, bewildered, and the sword 
dropped from his hand. He raised his hand 
to his eye and caught hold of a bee, and under- 
stood that that which caused this awful suf- 
fering was only the sting of the tiny creature. 
Quick as a flash, he stooped down and picked 
up his sword, in the hope that as yet it was 
not too late to intercept the runaways. 

But the little bee had done its work very 
well. 

During the short time that the soldier was 
blinded, the young mother had succeeded in 
rushing past him and down the stairs; and al- 
though he hurried after her with all haste, he 
could not find her. She had vanished; and in 
all that great palace there was no one who could 
discover any trace of her. 

The following morning, the soldier, together 
with several of his comrades, stood on guard, 
just within the city gate. The hour was early, 
and the city gates had only just been opened. 
But it appeared as though no one had expected 
that they would be opened that morning; for no 
throngs of field laborers streamed out of the 
city, as they usually did of a morning. All the 
Bethlehem inhabitants were so filled with terror 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 63 


over the night’s bloodshed that no one dared to 
leave his home. 

‘“ By my sword! ”’ said the soldier, as he stood 
and stared down the narrow street which led 
toward the gate, “I believe Voltigius has made 
a stupid blunder. It would have been better 
had he kept the gates closed and ordered a 
thorough search of every house in the city, until 
he had found the boy who managed to escape 
from the feast. Voltigius expects that his 
parents will try to get him away from here as 
soon as they learn that the gates are open. I 
fear this is not a wise calculation. How easily 
they could conceal a child! ” 

He wondered if they would try to hide the 
child in a fruit basket or in some huge oil cask, 
or amongst the grain-bales of a caravan. 

While he stood there on the watch for any 
attempt to deceive him in this way, he saw a man 
and a woman who came hurriedly down the 
street and were nearing the gate. They walked 
rapidly and cast anxious looks behind them, as 
though they were fleeing from some danger. 
The man held an ax in his hand with a firm 
grip, as if determined to fight should any one 
bar his way. But the soldier did not look at 
the man as much as he did at the woman. He 
thought that she was just as tall as the young 
mother who got away from him the night be- 


64 CHRIST LEGENDS 


fore. He observed also that she had thrown 
her skirt over her head. ‘‘ Perhaps she wears 
it like this,’ thought he, “‘ to conceal the fact 
that she holds a child on her arm.” 

The nearer they approached, the plainer he 
saw the child which the woman bore on her 
arm outlined under the raised robe. ‘ I’m posi- 
tive it is the one who got away last night. I 
didn’t see her face, but I recognize the tall 
figure. And here she comes now, with the child 
on her arm, and without even trying to keep 
it concealed. I had not dared to hope for such 
a lucky chance,” said the soldier to himself. 

The man and woman continued their rapid 
pace all the way to the city gate. Evidently, 
they had not anticipated being intercepted here. 
They trembled with fright when the soldier 
leveled his spear at them, and barred their 
passage. 

“Why do you refuse to let us go out in the 
fields to our work?” asked the man. 

“You may go presently,’”’ said the soldier, 
‘but first I must see what your wife has hidden 
behind her robe.” 

‘What is there to see?” said the man. “ It 
is only bread and wine, which we must live 
upon to-day.” 

“You speak the truth, perchance,” said the 
soldier, “ but if it is as you say, why does she 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN . 65 


turn away? Why does she not willingly let me 
see what she carries? ”’ 

‘“T do not wish that you shall see it,” said 
the man, ‘“‘ and I command you to let us pass! ” 

With this he raised his ax, but the woman laid 
her hand on his arm. 

‘Enter thou not into strife!” she pleaded. 
“T will try some other way. I shall let him 
see what I bear, and I know that he can not harm 
it.” With a proud and confident smile she 
turned toward the soldier, and threw back a fold 
of her robe. 

Instantly the soldier staggered back and 
closed his eyes, as if dazed by a strong light. 
That which the woman held concealed under 
her robe reflected such a dazzling white light 
that at first he did not know what he saw. 

““T thought you held a child on your arm,” 
he said. 

** You see what I hold,’’ the woman answered. 

Then the soldier finally saw that that which 
dazzled and shone was only a cluster of white 
lilies, the same kind that grew in the meadow; 
but their luster was much richer and more ra- 
diant. He could hardly bear to look at them. 

He stuck his hand in among the flowers. He 
couldn’t help thinking that it must be a child 
the woman carried, but he felt only the cool 
flower-petals. 


66 CHRIST LEGENDS 


He was bitterly deceived, and in his wrath 
he would gladly have taken both the man and 
the woman prisoners, but he knew that he could 
give no reason for such a proceeding. 

When the woman saw his confusion, she said: 
“Will you not let us go now?” 

The soldier quietly lowered the spear and 
stepped aside. 

The woman drew her robe over the flowers 
once more, and at the same time she looked 
with a sweet smile upon that which she bore 
on her arm. ‘I knew that you could not 
harm it, did you but see it,’’ she said to the 
soldier. 

With this, they hastened away; and the sol- 
dier stood and stared after them as long as they 
were within sight. 

While he followed them with his eyes, he al- 
most felt sure that the woman did not carry 
on her arm a cluster of lilies, but an actual, 
living child. 

While he still stood and stared after the 
wanderers, he heard loud shouts from the street. 
It was Voltigius, with several of his men, who 
came running. 

“Stop them!” they cried. ‘“‘ Close the gates 
on them! Don’t let them escape!” 

And when they came up to the soldier, they 
said that they had tracked the runaway boy. 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 67 


They had sought him in his home, but then 
he had escaped again. They had seen his par- 
ents hasten away with him. The father was a 
strong, gray-bearded man who carried an ax; the 
mother was a tall woman who held a child con- 
cealed under a raised robe. 

The same moment that Voltigius related this, 
there came a Bedouin riding in through the 
gate on a good horse. Without a word, the 
soldier rushed up to the rider, jerked him down 
oft the horse and threw him to the ground, and, 
with one bound, jumped into the saddle and 
dashed away toward the road. 


Two days later, the soldier rode forward 
through the dreary mountain-desert, which is 
the whole southern part of Judea. All the while 
he was pursuing the three fugitives from Bethle- 
hem, and he was beside himself because the 
fruitless hunt never came to an end. 

‘It looks, forsooth, as though these creatures 
had the power to sink into the earth,’ he grum- 
bled. ‘‘ How many times during these days 
have I not been so close to them that I’ve been 
on the point of throwing my spear at the child, 
and yet they have escaped me! I begin to think 
that I shall never catch up with them.” 

He felt despondent, like one who believes he 
is struggling against some superior power. He 


68 CHRIST LEGENDS 


asked himself if it might not be possible that 
the gods protected these people against him. 

‘* This trouble is in vain. Let me turn back be- 
fore I perish from hunger and thirst in this bar- 
ren land!” he said to himself, again and again. 
Then he was seized with fear of that which 
awaited him on his home-coming, should he turn 
back without having accomplished his mission. 

Twice he had permitted the child to escape, 
and neither Voltigius nor Herod would pardon 
him for anything of the kind. 

‘As long as Herod knows that one of the 
Bethlehem children still lives, he will always 
be haunted by the same anxiety and dread,” said 
the soldier. ‘‘ Most likely he will try to ease 
his worries by nailing me to a cross.” 

It was a hot noonday hour, and he suffered 
tortures from the ride through this mountain 
district on a road which wound around steep 
cliffs where no breeze stirred. Both horse and 
rider were ready to drop. 

Several hours before he had lost every trace 
of the fugitives, and he felt more disheartened 
than ever. 

‘‘T must give it up,” thought he. “I verily 
believe it is time wasted to pursue them 
further. They must perish anyway in this awful 
wilderness.” 

As he thought this, he discovered, in a moun- 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 69 


tain-wall near the roadside, the vaulted entrance 
to a grotto. 

Immediately he rode up to the opening. “I 
will rest a while. in this cool mountain cave,” 
thought he. ‘‘ Then, mayhap, I can continue the 
pursuit with renewed strength.” 

As he was about to enter, he was struck with 
amazement! On each side of the opening grew 
a beautiful lily. The two stalks stood there 
tall and erect and full of blossoms. ‘They sent 
forth an intoxicating odor of honey, and many 
bees buzzed around them. 

It was such an uncommon sight in this wil- 
derness that the soldier did something extraordi- 
nary. He broke off a large white flower and 
took it with him into the cave. 

The cave was neither deep nor dark, and as 
soon as he entered he saw that there were al- 
ready three travelers within: a man, a woman, 
and a child, who lay stretched out upon the 
ground, lost in deep slumber. 

The soldier had never before felt his heart 
beat as it did at this vision. They were the 
three runaways whom he had hunted so long. 
He recognized them instantly. And here they 
lay sleeping, unable to defend themselves and 
wholly in his power. 

He drew his sword quickly and bent over the 
sleeping child. 


7° CHRIST LEGENDS 


Cautiously he lowered the sword toward the 
infant’s heart, and measured carefully, in order 
to kill with a single thrust. 

He paused an instant to look at the child’s 
countenance. Now, when he was certain of 
victory, he felt a grim pleasure in beholding his 
victim. 

But when he saw the child his joy increased, 
for he recognized the little boy whom he had 
seen play with bees and lilies in the meadow be- 
yond the city gate. 

‘“Why, of course I should have understood 
this all the time!’ thought he. ‘‘ This is why 
I have always hated the child. ‘This is the 
pretended Prince of Peace.” 

He lowered his sword again while he thought: 
‘When I lay this child’s head at Herod’s feet, 
he will make me Commander of his Life 
Guard.” 

As he brought the point of the sword nearer 
and nearer the heart of the sleeping child, he 
reveled in the thought: ‘‘ This time, at least, 
no one shall come between us and snatch him 
from my power.” 

But the soldier still held in his hand the lily 
which he had broken off at the grotto entrance; 
and while he was thinking of his good fortune, 
a bee that had been hidden in its chalice flew 
towards him and buzzed around his head. 


BETHLEHEM’S CHILDREN 71 


He staggered back. Suddenly he remembered 
the bees which the boy: had carried to their 
home, and he remembered that it was a bee that 
had helped the child escape from Herod’s feast. 
This thought struck him with surprise. He held 
the sword suspended, and stood still and listened 
for the bee. 

Now he did not hear the tiny creature’s 
buzzing. As he stood there, perfectly still, he 
became conscious of the strong, delicious per- 
fume which came from the lily that he held in 
his hand. 

Then he began to think of the lilies that the 
little one had saved; he remembered that it was 
a cluster of lilies that had hidden the child from 
his view and made possible the escape through 
the city gate. 

He became more and more thoughtful, and 
he drew back the sword. 

“The bees and the lilies have requited his 
good deeds,’ he whispered to himself. Then 
he was struck by the thought that the little one 
had once shown even him a kindness, and a 
deep crimson flush mounted to his brow. 

‘“Can a Roman soldier forget to requite an 
accepted service?” he whispered. 

He fought a short battle with himself. He 
thought of Herod, and of his own desire to 
destroy the young Peace-Prince. 


72 CHRIST LEGENDS 


“It does not become me to murder this child 
who has saved my life,” he said, at last. 

And he bent down and laid his sword beside 
the child, that the fugitives on awakening should 
understand the danger they had escaped. 

Then he saw that the child was awake. He 
lay and regarded the soldier with the beautiful 
eyes which shone like stars. 

And the warrior bent a knee before the child. 

“Lord, thou art the Mighty One!” said he. 
‘*'Thou art the strong Conqueror! ‘Thou art 
He whom the gods love! Thou art He who 
shall tread upon adders and scorpions! ”’ 

He kissed his feet and stole softly out from 
the grotto, while the little one smiled and smiled 
after him with great, astonished child-eyes. 


WSS 


























© > a — == Oe, 














THE ° FLIGHT 


Ve Y Vie FV. 


INTO ° EGYPT 





THE eEIGH fine Boy Ps 


AR away in one of the Eastern deserts many, 
many years ago grew a palm tree, which 
was both exceedingly old and exceedingly tall. 
All who passed through the desert had to stop 
and gaze at it, for it was much larger than other 
palms; and they used to say of it, that some 
day it would certainly be taller than the obelisks 
and pyramids. 
Where the huge palm tree stood in its solitude 
and looked out over the desert, it saw something 
one day which made its mighty leaf-crown sway 
back and forth on its slender trunk with as- 
tonishment. Over by the desert borders walked 
two human beings. They were still at the dis- 
tance at which camels appear to be as tiny as 
moths; but they were certainly two human be- 
ings—two who were strangers in the desert; for 
the palm knew the desert-folk. They were a 
man and a woman who had neither guide nor 
pack-camels; neither tent nor water-sack. 
“Verily,” said the palm to itself, “‘ these two 
have come hither only to meet certain death.” 
The palm cast a quick, apprehensive glance 
around. 


75 


76 CHRIST LEGENDS 


“Tt surprises me,” it said, ‘that the lions 
are not already out to hunt this prey, but I do 
not see a single one astir; nor do I see any of the 
desert robbers, but they’ll probably soon come.” 

‘** A seven-fold death awaits these travelers,” 
thought the palm. ‘ The lions will devour 
them, thirst will parch them, the sand-storm will 
bury them, robbers will trap them, sunstroke will 
blight them, and fear will destroy them.” 

And the palm tried to think of something else. 
The fate of these people made it sad at heart. 

But on the whole desert plain, which lay 
spread out beneath the palm, there was noth- 
ing which it had not known and looked upon 
these thousand years. Nothing in particular 
could arrest its attention. Again it had to think 
of the two wanderers. 

‘““ By the drought and the storm!” said the 
palm, calling upon Life’s most dangerous ene- 
mies. ‘ What is that that the woman carries 
on her arm? I believe these fools also bring 
a little child with them! ” 

The palm, who was far-sighted—as the old 
usually are,—actually saw aright. The woman 
bore on her arm a child, that leaned against her 
shoulder and slept. 

“The child hasn’t even sufficient clothing on,” 
said the palm. ‘I see that the mother has 
tucked up her skirt and thrown it over the child. 


THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT 77 


She must have snatched him from his bed in 
great haste and rushed off with him. I under- 
stand now: these people are runaways. 

‘‘ But they are fools, nevertheless,’ continued 
the palm. ‘‘ Unless an angel protects them, they 
would have done better to have let their ene- 
mies do their worst, than to venture into this 
wilderness. 

‘““T can imagine how the whole thing came 
about. The man stood at his work; the child 
slept in his crib; the woman had gone out to 
fetch water. When she was a few steps from 
the door, she saw enemies coming. She rushed 
back to the house, snatched up her child, and 
fled. 

‘Since then, they have been fleeing for sev- 
eral days. It is very certain that they have not 
rested a moment. Yes, everything has hap- 
pened in this way, but still I say that unless 
an angel protects them 

‘They are so frightened that, as yet, they 
feel neither fatigue nor suffering. But I see 
their thirst by the strange gleam in their eyes. 
Surely I ought to know a thirsty person’s face! ” 

And when the palm began to think of thirst, 
a shudder passed through its tall trunk, and the 
long leaves’ numberless lobes rolled up, as 
though they had been held over a fire. 

“Were I a human being,” it said, ‘“ I should 





78 CHRIST LEGENDS 


never venture into the desert. He is pretty 
brave who dares come here without having roots 
that reach down to the never-dying water veins. 
Here it can be dangerous even for palms; yea, 
even for a palm such as I. © 

““ Tf I could counsel them, I should beg them 
to turn back. ‘Their enemies could never be as 
cruel toward them as the desert. Perhaps they 
think it is easy to live in the desert! But I 
know that, now and then, even I have found it 
hard to keep alive. I recollect one time in my 
youth when a hurricane threw a whole mountain 
of sand over me. I came near choking. If I 
could have died that would have been my last 
moment.” 

The palm continued to think aloud, as the 
aged and solitary habitually do. 

‘*T hear a wondrously beautiful melody rush 
through my leaves,” it said. ‘‘ All the lobes 
on my leaves are quivering. I know not what 
it is that takes possession of me at the sight 
of these poor strangers. But this unfortunate 
woman is so beautiful! She carries me back, in 
memory, to the most wonderful thing that I ever 
experienced.” 

And while the leaves continued to move in a 
soft melody, the palm was reminded how once, 
very long ago, two illustrious personages had 
visited the oasis. They were the Queen of Sheba 


THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT 79 


and Solomon the Wise. The beautiful Queen 
was to return to her own country; the King had 
accompanied her on the journey, and now they 
were going to part. ‘‘ In remembrance of this 
hour,” said the Queen then, “‘ I now plant a date 
seed in the earth, and I wish that from it shall 
spring a palm which shall grow and live until 
a King shall arise in Judea, greater than Solo- 
mon.’ And when she had said this, she planted 
the seed in the earth and watered it with her 
tears. 

““ How does it happen that I am thinking of 
this just to-day?”’ said the palm. ‘“‘ Can this 
woman be so beautiful that she reminds me of 
the most glorious of queens, of her by whose 
word I have lived and flourished until this 
day? 

‘“T hear my leaves rustle louder and louder,” 
said the palm, “‘ and it sounds as melancholy as 
a dirge. It is as though they prophesied that 
some one would soon leave this life. It is well 
to know that it does not apply to me, since I 
can not die.” 

The palm assumed that the death-rustle in 
its leaves must apply to the two lone wanderers. 
It is certain that they too believed that their 
last hour was nearing. One saw it from their 
expression as they walked past the skeleton of 
a camel which lay in their path. One saw it 


80 CHRIST LEGENDS 


from the glances they cast back at a pair of 
passing vultures. It couldn’t be otherwise; they 
must perish! 

They had caught sight of the palm and oasis - 
_and hastened thither to find-water. But when 
they arrived at last, they collapsed from despair, 
for the well was dry. The woman, worn out, 
laid the child down and seated herself beside 
the well-curb, and wept. The man flung him- 
self down beside her and beat upon the dry earth 
with his fists. The palm heard how they talked 
with each other about their inevitable death. It 
also gleaned from their conversation that King 
Herod had ordered the slaughter of all male 
children from two to three years old, because 
he feared that the long-looked-for King of the 
Jews had been born. 

“Tt rustles louder and louder in my leaves,”’ 
said the palm. ‘‘ These poor fugitives will soon 
see their last moment.” 

It perceived also that they dreaded the desert. 
The man said it would have been better if they 
had stayed at home and fought with the sol- 
diers, than to fly hither. He said that they 
would have met an easier death. 

‘God will help us,” said the woman. 

‘““We are alone among beasts of prey and 
serpents,” said the man. ‘ We have no food 
and no water. How should God be able to 


THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT 8r 


help us?’ In despair he rent his garments and 
pressed his face against the dry earth. He was 
hopeless—like a man with a death-wound in his 

heart. | 

The woman sat erect, with her hands clasped 
over her knees. But the looks she cast towards 
the desert spoke of a hopelessness beyond 
bounds. 

The palm heard the melancholy rustle in its 
leaves growing louder and louder. The woman 
must have heard it also, for she turned her gaze - 
upward toward the palm-crown. And instantly 
she involuntarily raised her arms. 

‘““Oh, dates, dates! ’’ she cried. ‘There was 
such intense agony in her voice that the old palm 
wished itself no taller than a broom and that 
the dates were as easy to reach as the buds on 
a brier bush. It probably knew that its crown 
was full of date clusters, but how should a 
human being reach such a height? 

The man had already seen how beyond all 
reach the date clusters hung. He did not even 
raise his head. He begged his wife not to 
long for the impossible. 

But the child, who had toddled about by him- 
self and played with sticks and straws, had heard 
the mother’s outcry. 

Of course the little one could not imagine that 
his mother should not get everything she wished 


82 CHRIST LEGENDS 


for. The instant she said dates, he began to 
stare at the tree. He pondered and pondered 
how he should bring down the dates. His fore- 
head was almost drawn into wrinkles under the 
golden curls. At last a smile stole over his 
face. He had found the way. He went up 
to the palm and stroked it with his little hand, 
and said, in a sweet, childish voice: 

‘* Palm, bend thee! Palm, bend thee! ” 

But what was that, what was that? The 
palm leaves rustled as if a hurricane had passed 
through them, and up and down the long trunk 
traveled shudder upon shudder. And the tree 
felt that the little one was its superior. It could 
not resist him. 

And it bowed its long trunk before the child, 
as people bow before princes. Ina great bow it’ 
bent itself towards the ground, and finally it 
came down so far that the big crown with the 
trembling leaves swept the desert sand. 

The child appeared to be neither frightened 
nor surprised; with a joyous cry he loosened 
cluster after cluster from the old palm’s crown. 
When he had plucked enough dates, and the 
tree still lay on the ground, the child came 
back again and caressed it and said, in the 
gentlest voice: 

‘“* Palm, raise thee! Palm, raise thee! ” 

Slowly and reverently the big tree raised it- 


THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT 83 


self on its slender trunk, while the leaves played 
like harps. 

‘Now I know for whom they are playing the 
death melody,” said the palm to itself when it 
stood erect once more. ‘It is not for any of 
these people.” 

The man and the woman sank upon their 
knees and thanked God. 

“Thou hast seen our agony and removed it. 
Thou art the Powerful One who bendest the 
palm-trunk like a reed. What enemy should 
we fear when-Thy strength protects us?” 

The next time a caravan passed through the 
desert, the travelers saw that the great palm’s 
leaf-crown had withered. 

‘* How can this be?”’ said a traveler. “ This 
palm was not to die before it had seen a King 
greater than Solomon.”’ 

‘“Mayhap it hath seen him,” answered an- 
other of the desert travelers. 





IN: NAZARETH» 








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IN NAZARETH 


NCE, when Jesus was only five years old, 
he sat on the doorstep outside his father’s 
workshop, in Nazareth, and made clay cuckoos 
from a lump of clay which the potter across 
the way had given him. He was happier than 
usual. All the children in the quarter had told 
Jesus that the potter was a disobliging man, who 
wouldn’t let himself be coaxed, either by soft 
glances or honeyed words, and he had never 
dared ask aught of him. But, you see, he hardly 
knew how it had come about. He had only 
stood on his doorstep and, with yearning eyes, 
looked upon the neighbor working at his molds, 
and then that neighbor had come over from his 
stall and given him so much clay that it would 
have been enough to finish a whole wine jug. 

On the stoop of the next house sat Judas, his 
face covered with bruises and his clothes full 
of rents, which he had acquired during his ‘con- 
tinual fights with street urchins. For the mo- 
ment he was quiet, he neither quarreled nor 
fought, but worked with a bit of clay, just as 
Jesus did. But this clay he had not been able 
to procure for himself. He hardly dared ven- 

87 


88 CHRIST LEGENDS 


ture within sight of the potter, who complained 
that he was in the habit of throwing stones at 
his fragile wares, and would have driven him 
away with a good beating. It was Jesus who 
had divided his portion with him. 

When the two children had finished their clay 
cuckoos, they stood the birds up in a ring in 
front of them. These looked just as clay 
cuckoos have always looked. ‘They had big, 
round lumps to stand on in place of feet, short 
tails, no necks, and almost imperceptible wings. 

But, at all events, one saw at once a difference 
in the work of the little playmates. Judas’ birds 
were so crooked that they tumbled over con- 
tinually; and no matter how hard he worked 
with his clumsy little fingers, he couldn’t get their 
bodies neat and well formed. Now and then 
he glanced slyly at Jesus, to see how he man- 
aged to make his birds as smooth and even as 
the oak-leaves in the forests on Mount Tabor. 

As bird after bird was finished, Jesus became 
happier and happier. Each looked more beau- 
tiful to him than the last, and he regarded 
them all with pride and affection. They were 
to be his playmates, his little brothers; they 
should sleep in his bed, keep him company, and 
sing to him when his mother left him. Never 
before had he thought himself so rich; never 
again could he feel alone or forsaken. 


IN NAZARETH 89 


The big brawny water-carrier came walking 
along, and right after him came the huckster, 
who sat joggingly on his donkey between the 
large empty willow baskets. The water-carrier 
laid his hand on Jesus’ curly head and asked 
him about his birds; and Jesus told him that 
they had names and that they could sing. 
All the little birds were come to him from 
foreign lands, and told him things which only 
he and they knew. And Jesus spoke in such 
a way that both the water-carrier and the 
huckster forgot about their tasks for a full 
hour, to listen to him. 

But when they wished to go farther, Jesus 
pointed to Judas. “ See what pretty birds Judas 
makes!” he said. 

Then the huckster good-naturedly stopped 
his donkey and asked Judas if his birds also 
had names and could sing. But Judas knew 
nothing of this. He was stubbornly silent and 
did not raise his eyes from his work, and the 
huckster angrily kicked one of his birds and 
rode on. 

In this manner the afternoon passed, and the 
sun sank so far down that its beams could come 
in through the low city gate, which stood at 
the end of the street and was decorated with 
a Roman Eagle. This sunshine, which came 
at the close of the day, was perfectly rose-red— 


go CHRIST LEGENDS 


as if it had become mixed with blood—and 
it colored everything which came in its path, 
as it filtered through the narrow street. It 
painted the potter’s vessels as well as the log 
which creaked under the woodman’s saw, and 
the white veil that covered Mary’s face. 

But the loveliest of all was the sun’s reflection 
as it shone on the little water-puddles which 
had gathered in the big, uneven cracks in the 
stones that covered the street. Suddenly Jesus 
stuck his hand in the puddle nearest him. He 
had conceived the idea that he would paint his 
gray birds with the sparkling sunbeams which 
had given such pretty color to the water, the 
house-walls, and everything around him. 

The sunshine took pleasure in letting itself 
be captured by him, like paint in a paint pot; 
and when Jesus spread it over the little clay 
birds, it lay still and bedecked them from head 
to feet with a diamond-like luster. 

Judas, who every now and then looked at 
Jesus to see if he made more and prettier birds 
than his, gave a shriek of delight when he saw 
how Jesus painted his clay cuckoos with the 
sunshine, which he caught from the water pools. 
Judas also dipped his hand in the shining water 
and tried to catch the sunshine. 

But the sunshine wouldn’t be caught by him. 
It slipped through his fingers; and no matter 


IN NAZARETH gt 


how fast he tried to move his hands to get 
hold of it, it got away, and he couldn’t procure 
a pinch of color for his poor birds. 

‘Wait, Judas!” said Jesus. ‘‘ I'll come and 
paint your birds.” 

‘“No, you shan’t touch them!” cried Judas. 
‘“ They’re good enough as they are.”’ 

He rose, his eyebrows contracted into an ugly 
frown, his lips compressed. And he put his 
broad foot on the birds and transformed them, 
one after another, into little flat pieces of clay. 

When all his birds were destroyed, he walked 
over to Jesus, who sat and caressed his birds— 
‘that glittered like jewels. Judas regarded them 
for a moment in silence, then he raised his 
foot and crushed one of them. 

When Judas took his foot away and saw 
the entire little bird changed into a cake of 
clay, he felt so relieved that he began to laugh, 
and raised his foot to crush another. 

“Judas,” said Jesus, ‘‘ what are you doing? 
Don’t you see that they are alive and can sing? ” 

But Judas laughed and crushed still another 
bird. 

Jesus looked around for help. Judas was 
heavily built and Jesus had not the strength to 
hold him back. He glanced around for his 
mother. She was not far away, but before she 
could have gone there, Judas would have had 


92 CHRIST LEGENDS 


ample time to destroy the birds. The tears 
sprang to Jesus’ eyes. Judas had already 
crushed four of his birds. There were only 
three left. 

He was annoyed with his birds, who stood 
so calmly and let themselves be trampled upon 
without paying the slightest attention to the 
danger. Jesus clapped his hands to awaken 
them; then he shouted: ‘“ Fly, fly! ” 

Then the three birds began to move their 
tiny wings, and, fluttering anxiously, they suc- 
ceeded in swinging themselves up to the eaves 
of the house, where they were safe. _ 

But when Judas saw that the birds took to 
their wings and flew at Jesus’ command, he be- 
gan to weep. He tore his hair, as he had seen 
his elders do when they were in great trouble, 
and he threw himself at Jesus’ feet. 

Judas lay there and rolled in the dust before 
Jesus like a dog, and kissed his feet and begged 
that he would raise his foot and crush him, as 
he had done with the clay cuckoos. For Judas 
loved Jesus and admired and worshiped him, 
and at the same time hated him. 

Mary, who sat all the while and watched 
the children’s play, came up and lifted Judas in 
her arms and seated him on her lap, and 
caressed him. 

“You poor child!” she said to him, “ you 


IN NAZARETH 93 


do not know that you have attempted some- 
thing which no mortal can accomplish. Don’t 
engage in anything of this kind again, if you do 
not wish to become the unhappiest of mortals! 
What would happen to any one of us who 
undertook to compete with one who paints with 
sunbeams and blows the breath of life into dead 
clay?” 




























































































IN THE TEMPLE 


NCE there was a poor family—a man, 

his wife, and their little son—who walked 

about in the big Temple at Jerusalem. ‘The son 

was such a pretty child! He had hair which 

fell in long, even curls, and eyes that shone 
like stars. 

The son had not been in the Temple since 
he was big enough to comprehend what he saw; 
and now his parents showed him all its glories. 
There were long rows of pillars and gilded 
altars; there were holy men who sat and in- 
structed their pupils; there was the high priest 
with his breastplate of precious stones. There 
were the curtains from Babylon, interwoven 
with gold roses; there were the great copper 
gates, which were so heavy that it was: hard 
work for thirty men to swing them back and 
forth on their hinges. 

But the little boy, who was only twelve years 
old, did not care very much about seeing all 
this. His mother told him that that which she 
showed him was the most marvelous in all the 
world. She told him that it would probably 
be a long time before he should see anything 

97 


98 * CHRIST LEGENDS 


like it again. In the poor town of Nazareth, 
where they lived, there was nothing to be seen 
but gray streets. 

Her exhortations did not help matters much. 
The little boy looked as though he would will- 
ingly have run away from the magnificent Tem- 
ple, if instead he could have got out and played 
on the narrow street in Nazareth. 

But it was singular that the more indifferent 
the boy appeared, the more pleased and happy 
were the parents. They nodded to each other 
over his head, and were thoroughly satisfied. 

At last, the little one looked so tired and 
bored that the mother felt sorry for him. 
‘“ Now we have walked too far with you,” said 
she. ‘‘ Come, you shall rest a while.” 

She sat down beside a pillar and told him to 
lie down on the ground and rest his head on 
her knee. He did so, and fell asleep instantly. 

He had barely closed his eyes when the wife 
said to the husband: “‘ I have never feared any- 
thing so much as the moment when he should 
come here to Jerusalem’s Temple. I believed 
that when he saw this house of God, he would 
wish to stay here forever.” 

“IT, too, have been afraid of this journey,” 
said the man. ‘‘ At the time of his birth, many 
signs and wonders appeared which betokened 
that he would become a great ruler. But what 


IN THE TEMPLE 99 


could royal honors bring him except worries 
and dangers? I have always said that it would 
be best, both for him and for us, if he never 
became anything but a carpenter in Nazareth.” 

‘Since his fifth year,’’ said the mother re- 
flectively, “‘no miracles have happened around 
him. And he does not recall any of the won- 
ders which occurred during his early childhood. 
Now he is exactly like a child among other chil- 
dren. God’s will be done above all else! But 
I have almost begun to hope that our Lord in 
His mercy will choose another for the great 
destinies, and let me keep my son with me.” 

‘“ For my part,”’ said the man, “I am certain 
that if he learns nothing of the signs and won- 
ders which occurred during his first years, then 
all will go well.” 

‘“T never speak with him about any of these 
marvels,” said the wife. ‘‘ But I fear all the 
while that, without my having aught to do 
with it, something will happen which will make 
him understand who he is. I feared most of 
all to bring him to this Temple.” 

“You may be glad that the danger is over 
now,” said the man. ‘‘ We shall soon have him 
back home in Nazareth.” 

‘“ T have feared the wise men in the Temple,” 
said the woman. ‘I have dreaded the sooth- 
sayers who sit here on their rugs. I believed 


100 CHRIST LEGENDS 


that when he should come to their notice, they 
would stand up and bow before the child, and 
greet him as Judea’s King. It is singular that 
they do not notice his beauty. Such a child 
has never before come under their eyes.’’ She 
sat in silence a moment and regarded the child. 
“IT can hardly understand it,” said she. “TI 
believed that when he should see these judges, 
who sit in the house of the Holy One and settle 
the people’s disputes, and these teachers who 
talk with their pupils, and these priests who 
serve the Lord, he would wake up and say: ‘ It 
is here, among these judges, these teachers, these 
priests, that I am born to live.’ ” 

‘What happiness would there be for him to 
sit shut in between these pillar-aisles?”’ inter- 
posed the man. “ It is better for him to roam 
on the hills and mountains round about 
Nazareth.” 

The mother sighed a little. ‘‘ He is so happy 
at home with us!” said she. ‘*‘ How contented 
he seems when he can follow the shepherds 
on their lonely wanderings, or when he can 
go out in the fields and see the husbandmen 
labor. I can not believe that we are treating 
him wrongly, when we seek to keep him for 
ourselves.” 

“We only spare him the greatest suffering,” 
said the man. 


IN THE TEMPLE Io! 


They continued talking together in this strain 
until the child awoke from his slumber. 

‘““Well,”’ said the mother, ‘‘ have you had a 
good rest? Stand up now, for it is drawing 
on toward evening, and we must return to the 
camp.” 

They were in the most remote part of the 
building and so began the walk towards the 
entrance. 

They had to go through an old arch which 
had been there ever since the time when the 
first Temple was erected on this spot; and near 
the arch, propped against a wall, stood an 
old copper trumpet, enormous in length and 
weight, almost like a pillar to raise to the mouth 
and play upon. It stood there dented and bat- 
tered, full of dust and spiders’ webs, inside and 
outside, and covered with an almost invisible 
tracing of ancient letters. Probably a thousand 
years had gone by since any one had tried to 
coax a tone out of it. 

But when the little boy saw the huge trum- 
pet, he stopped—astonished! ‘‘ What is that?” 
he asked. 

‘That is the great trumpet called the Voice 
of the Prince of this World,” replied the 
mother. ‘‘ With this, Moses called together the 
Children of Israel, when they were scattered 
over the wilderness. Since his time no one has 


102 CHRIST LEGENDS 


been able to coax a single tone from it. But 
he who can do this, shall gather all the peoples 
of earth under his dominion.” 

She smiled at this, which she believed to be 
an old myth; but the little boy remained stand- 
ing beside the big trumpet until she called him. 
This trumpet was the first thing he had seen 
in the Temple that he liked. 

They had not gone far before they came to a 
big, wide Temple-court. Here, in the mountain- 
foundation itself, was a chasm, deep and wide— 
just as it had been from time immemorial. This 
chasm King Solomon had not wished to fill in 
when he built the Temple. No bridge had been 
laid over it; no inclosure had he built around 
the steep abyss. But instead, he had stretched 
across it a sword of steel, several feet long, 
sharpened, and with the blade up. And after 
ages and ages and many changes, the sword 
still lay across the chasm. Now it had almost 
rusted away. It was no longer securely fastened 
at the ends, but trembled and rocked as soon as 
any one walked with heavy steps in the Temple 
Court. 

When the mother took the boy in a round- 
about way past the chasm, he asked: ‘‘ What 
bridge is this? ” 

“Tt was placed there by King Solomon,” 
answered the mother, “‘ and we call it Paradise 


IN THE TEMPLE 103 


Bridge. If you can cross the chasm on this 
trembling bridge, whose surface is thinner than ° 
a sunbeam, then you can be sure of getting to 
Paradise.” 

She smiled and moved away; but the boy 
stood still and looked at the narrow, trembling 
steel blade until she called him. 

When he obeyed her, she sighed because she 
had not shown him these two remarkable things 
sooner, so that he might have had sufficient time 
to view them. 

Now they walked on without being detained, 
till they came to the great entrance portico with 
its columns, five-deep. Here, in a corner, were 
two black marble pillars erected on the same 
foundation, and so close to each other that hardly 
a straw could be squeezed in between them. 
They were tall and majestic, with richly orna- 
mented capitals around which ran a row of 
peculiarly formed beasts’ heads. And there 
was not an inch on these beautiful pillars that 
did not bear marks and scratches. They were 
worn and damaged like nothing else in the 
Temple. Even the floor around them was worn 
smooth, and was somewhat hollowed out from 
the wear of many feet. 

Once more the boy stopped his mother and 
asked: ‘‘ What pillars are these? ” 

‘They are pillars which our father Abraham 


104 CHRIST LEGENDS 


brought with him to Palestine from far-away 
’ Chaldea, and which he called Righteousness’ 
Gate. He who can squeeze between them is 
righteous before God and has never committed 
a sin.” : 

The boy stood still and regarded these pillars 
with great, open eyes. 

“You, surely, do not think of trying to 
squeeze yourself in between them?” laughed 
the mother. “ You see how the floor around 
them is worn away by the many who have 
attempted to force their way through the nar- 
row space; but, believe me, no one has suc- 
ceeded. Make haste! I hear the sound of the 
copper gates as the thirty Temple servants put 
their shoulders against them to bring them into 
motion.”’ 

But all night the little boy lay awake in the 
tent, and he saw before him nothing but Right- 
eousness’ Gate and Paradise Bridge and the 
Voice of the Prince of this World. Never be- 
fore had he heard of such wonderful things, and 
he couldn’t get them out of his head. 

And on the morning of the next day it was 
the same thing: he couldn’t think of anything 
else. That morning they were to leave for 
home. The parents had much to do before they 
took the tent down and loaded it upon a big 
camel, and before everything else was in order. 


IN THE TEMPLE 105 


They were not going to travel alone, but in 
company with many relatives and neighbors. 
And since there were so many, the packing nat- 
urally went on very slowly. 

The little boy did not assist in the work, 
but in the midst of the hurry and confusion he 
sat still and thought about the three wonderful 
things. 

Suddenly he concluded that he would have 
time enough to go back to the Temple and take 
another look at them. ‘There was still much 
to be packed away. He could probably manage 
to get back from the Temple before the 
departure. ; 

He hastened away without telling any one 
where he was going to. He didn’t think it was 
necessary. He would soon return, of course. 

It wasn’t long before he reached the Temple 
and entered the portico where the two pillars 
stood. 

As soon as he saw them, his eyes danced with 
joy. He sat down on the floor beside them, and 
gazed up at them. As he thought that he who 
could squeeze between these two pillars was ac- 
counted righteous before God and had never 
committed sin, he fancied he had never seen 
anything so wonderful. 

He thought how glorious it would be to be 
able to squeeze in between the two pillars, but 


106 CHRIST LEGENDS 


they stood so close together that it was impossi- 
ble even to try it. In this way, he sat motion- 
less before the pillars for well-nigh an hour; 
but this he did not know. He thought he had 
looked at them only a few moments. 

But it happened that, in the portico where 
the little boy sat, the judges of the high 
court were assembled to help folks settle their 
differences. . 

The whole portico was filled with people, who 
complained about boundary lines that had been 
moved, about sheep which had been carried 
away from the flocks and branded with false 
marks, about debtors who wouldn’t pay. 

Among them came a rich man dressed in a 
trailing purple robe, who brought before the 
court a poor widow who was supposed to owe 
him a few silver shekels. The poor widow cried 
and said that the rich man dealt unjustly with 
her; she had already paid her debt to him once, 
and now he tried to force her to pay it again, 
but this she could not afford to do; she was so 
poor that should the judges condemn her to 
pay, she must give her daughters to the rich 
man as slaves. 

Then he who sat in the place of honor on 
the judges’ bench, turned to the rich man and 
said: ‘‘ Do you dare to swear on oath that this 
poor woman has not already paid you?” 


IN THE TEMPLE 107 


Then the rich man answered: ‘‘ Lord, I am 
a rich man. Would I take the trouble to de- 
mand my money from this poor widow, if I 
did not have the right to it? I swear to you 
that as certain as that no one shall ever walk 
through Righteousness’ Gate does this woman 
owe me the sum which I demand.” 

When the judges heard this oath they be- 
lieved him, and doomed the poor widow to 
leave him her daughters as slaves. 

But the little boy sat close by and heard 
all this. He thought to himself: What a good 
thing it would be if some one could squeeze 
through Righteousness’ Gate! That rich man 
certainly did not speak the truth. It is a great 
pity about the poor old woman, who will be 
compelled to send her daughters away to become 
slaves! 

He jumped upon the platform where the two 
pillars towered into the heights, and looked 
through the crack. 

‘‘ Ah, that it were not altogether impossible!” 
thought he. 

He was deeply distressed because of the poor 
woman. Now he didn’t think at all about the 
saying that he who could squeeze through 
Righteousness’ Gate was holy, and without sin. 
He wanted to get through only for the sake 
of the poor woman. 


108 CHRIST LEGENDS 


He put his shoulder in the groove between 
the two pillars, as if to make a way. 

That instant all the people who stood under 
the portico, looked over toward Righteousness’ 
Gate. For it rumbled in the vaults, and it sang 
in the old pillars, and they glided apart—one 
to the right, and one to the left—and made a 
space wide enough for the boy’s slender body 
to pass between them! 

Then there arose the greatest wonder and 
excitement! At first no one knew what to say. 
The people stood and stared at the little boy 
who had worked so great a miracle. 

The oldest among the judges was the first one 
who came to his senses. He called out that 
they should lay hold on the rich merchant, and 
bring him before the judgment seat. And he 
sentenced him to leave all his goods to the poor 
widow, because he had sworn falsely in God’s 
Temple. 

When this was settled, the judge asked after 
the boy who had passed through Righteousness’ 
Gate; but when the people looked around for 
him, he had disappeared. For the very moment 
the pillars glided apart, he was awakened, as 
from a dream, and remembered the home-jour- 
ney and his parents. ‘‘ Now I must hasten away 
from here, so that my parents will not have to 
wait for me,” thought he. 


IN THE TEMPLE 109 


He knew not that he had sat a whole hour 
before Righteousness’ Gate, but believed he had 
lingered there only a few minutes; therefore, he 
thought that he would even have time to take 
a look at Paradise Bridge before he left the 
Temple. 

And he slipped through the throng of people 
and came to Paradise Bridge, which was situated 
in another part of the big temple. 

But when he saw the sharp steel sword which 
was drawn across the chasm, he thought how the 
person who could walk across that bridge was 
sure of reaching Paradise. He believed that 
this was the most marvelous thing he had ever 
beheld; and he seated himself on the edge of 
the chasm to look at the steel sword. 

There he sat down and thought how delight- 
ful it would be to reach Paradise, and how 
much he would like to walk across the bridge; 
but at the same time he saw that it would be 
simply impossible even to attempt it. 

Thus he sat and mused for two hours, but 
he did not know how the time had flown. He 
sat there and thought only of Paradise. 

But it seems that in the court where the 
deep chasm was, a large altar had been erected, 
and all around it walked white-robed priests, 
who tended the altar fire and received sac- 
rifices. In the court there were many with offer- 


110 GHRIST LEGENDS 


ings, and a big crowd who only watched the 
service. 

Then there came a poor old man who brought 
a lamb which was very small and thin, and - 
which had been bitten by a dog and had a large 
wound. 

The man went up to the priests with the lamb 
and begged that he might offer it, but they 
refused to accept it. They told him that such 
a miserable gift he could not offer to our Lord. 
The old man implored them to accept the lamb 
out of compassion, for his son lay at the point 
of death, and he possessed nothing else that 
he could offer to God for his restoration. ‘‘ You 
must let me offer it,” said he, “ else my prayers 
will not come before God’s face, and my son 
will die!” 

‘You must not believe but that I have the 
greatest sympathy with you,” said the priest, 
“but in the law it is forbidden to sacrifice a 
damaged animal. It is just as impossible to 
grant your prayers, as it is to cross Paradise 
Bridge.” 

The little boy did not sit very far away, so 
he heard all this. Instantly he thought what 
a pity it was that no one could cross the bridge. 
Perhaps the poor man might keep his son if 
the lamb were sacrificed. 

The old man left the Temple Court disconso- 


IN THE TEMPLE Ii! 


late, but the boy got up, walked over to the 
trembling bridge, and put his foot on it. 

He didn’t think at all about wanting to cross 
it to be certain of Paradise. His thoughts were 
with the poor man, whom he desired to help. 

But he drew back his foot, for he thought: 
“This is impossible. It is much too old and 
rusty, and would not hold even me! ” 

But once again his thoughts went out to the 
old man whose son lay at death’s door. Again 
he put his foot down upon the blade. 

Then he noticed that it ceased to tremble, 
and that beneath his foot it felt broad and 
secure. 

And when he took the next step upon it, he 
felt that the air around him supported him, so 
that he could not fall. It bore him as though 
he were a bird, and had wings. 

But from the suspended sword a sweet tone 
trembled when the boy walked upon it, and one 
of those who stood in the court turned around 
when he heard the tone. He gave a cry, and 
then the others turned and saw the little boy 
tripping across the sword. 

There was great consternation among all who 
stood there. ‘The first who came to their senses 
were the priests. “They immediately sent a mes- 
senger after the poor man, and when he came 
back they said to him: ‘“‘ God has performed a 


112 CHRIST LEGENDS 


miracle to show us that He will accept your 
offering. Give us your lamb and we will sac- 
rifice it.” 

When this was done they asked for the little 
boy who had walked across the chasm; but 
when they looked around for him they could 
not find him. 

For just after the boy had crossed the chasm, 
he happened to think of the journey home, and 
of his parents. He did not know that the morn- 
ing and the whole forenoon were gone, but 
thought: ‘‘ I must make haste and get back, so 
that they will not have to wait. But first I want 
to run over and take a look at the Voice of the 
Prince of this World.” 

And he stole away through the crowd and 
ran over to the damp pillar-aisle where the cop- 
per trumpet stood leaning against the wall. 

When he saw it, and thought about the pre- 
diction that he who could coax a tone from it 
should one day gather all the peoples of earth 
under his dominion, he fancied that never had 
he seen anything so wonderful! and he sat 
down beside it and regarded it. 

He thought how great it would be to win 
all the peoples of earth, and how much he 
wished that he could blow in the old trumpet. 
But he understood that it was impossible, so 
he didn’t even dare try. 


IN THE TEMPLE 113 


He sat like this for several hours, but he did 
not know how the time passed. He thought 
only how marvelous it would be to gather all 
the peoples of earth under his dominion. 

But it happened that in this cool passageway 
sat a holy man who instructed his pupils, that 
sat at his feet. 

And now this holy man turned toward one 
of his pupils and told him that he was an im- 
postor. He said the spirit had revealed to him 
that this youth was a stranger, and not an 
Israelite. And he demanded why he had 
sneaked in among his pupils under a false name. 

Then the strange youth rose and said that 
he had wandered through deserts and sailed 
over great seas that he might hear wisdom and 
the doctrine of the only true God expounded. 
‘““ My soul was faint with longing,” he said to 
the holy man. ‘But I knew that you would 
not teach me if I did not say that I was an 
Israelite. Therefore, I lied to you, that my 
longing should be satisfied. And I pray that 
you will let me remain here with you.” 

But the holy man stood up and raised his 
arms toward heaven. “It is just as impossible 
to let you remain here with me, as it is that 
some one shall arise and blow in the huge cop- 
per trumpet, which we call the Voice of the 
Prince of this World! You are not even per- 


II4 CHRIST LEGENDS 


mitted to enter this part of the Temple. Leave 
this place at once, or my pupils will throw them- 
selves upon you and tear you in pieces, for your 
presence desecrates the Temple.” 

But the youth stood still, and said: “ I do not 
wish to go elsewhere, where my soul can find 
no nourishment. I would rather die here at 
your feet.” 

Hardly was this said when the holy man’s 
pupils jumped to their feet, to drive him away, 
and when he made resistance, they threw him 
down and wished to kill him. 

But the boy sat very near, so he heard and 
saw all this, and he thought: “‘ This is a great 
injustice. Oh! if I could only blow in the big 
copper trumpet, he would be helped.” 

He rose and laid his hand on the trumpet. 
At this moment he no longer wished that he 
could raise it to his lips because he who could 
do so should be a great ruler, but because he 
hoped that he might help one whose life was 
in danger. 

And he grasped the copper trumpet with his 
tiny hands, to try and lift it. 

Then he felt that the huge trumpet raised 
itself to his lips. And when he only breathed, 
a strong, resonant tone came forth from the 
trumpet, and reverberated all through the great 
Temple. 


IN THE TEMPLE I15 


Then they all turned their eyes and saw that 
it was a little boy who stood with the trumpet 
to his lips and coaxed from it tones which made 
foundations and pillars tremble. 

Instantly, all the hands which had been lifted 
to strike the strange youth fell, and the holy 
teacher said to him: 

‘Come and sit thee here at my feet, as thou 
didst sit before! God hath performed a miracle 
to show me that it is His wish that thou shouldst 
be consecrated to His service.” 


As it drew on toward the close of day, a man 
and a woman came hurrying toward Jerusalem. 
They looked frightened and anxious, and called 
out to each and every one whom they met: 
‘We have lost our son! We thought he had 
followed our relatives, but none of them have 
seen him. Has any one of you passed a child 
alone?” 

Those who came from Jerusalem answered 
them: “‘ Indeed, we have not seen your son, but 
in the Temple we saw a most beautiful child! 
He was like an angel from heaven, and he has 
passed through Righteousness’ Gate.” 

They would gladly have related, very mi- 
nutely, all about this, but the parents had no 
time to listen. 


116 CHRIST LEGENDS 


When they had walked on a little farther, 
they met other persons and questioned them. 

But those who came from Jerusalem wished 
to talk only about a most beautiful child who 
looked as though he had come down from 
heaven, and who had crossed Paradise 
Bridge. 

They would gladly have stopped and talked 
about this until late at night, but the man and 
woman had no time to listen to them, and hur- 
ried into the city. 

They walked up one street and down another 
without finding the child. At last they reached 
the Temple. As they came up to it, the woman 
said: ‘‘ Since we are here, let us go in and see 
what the child is like, which they say has come 
down from heaven!” They went in and asked 
where they should find the child. 

“Go straight on to where the holy teachers 
sit with their students. There you will find the 
child. The old men have seated him in their 
midst. They question him and he questions 
them, and they are all amazed at him. But all 
the people stand below in the Temple court, 
to catch a glimpse of the one who has raised 
the Voice of the Prince of this World to his 
lips.” 

The man and the woman made their way 
through the throng of people, and saw that 


IN THE TEMPLE 117 


the child who sat among the wise teachers was 
their son. 

But as soon as the woman recognized the 
child she began to weep. 

And the boy who sat among the wise men 
heard that some one wept, and he knew that 
it was his mother. Then he rose and came 
over to her, and the father and mother took 
him between them and went from the Temple 
with him. 

But as the mother continued to weep, the 
child asked: ‘‘ Why weepest thou? I came to 
thee as soon as I heard thy voice.” 

‘Should I not weep?” said the mother. “I 
believed that thou wert lost to me.” 

They went out from the city and darkness 
came on, and all the while the mother wept. 

‘Why weepest thou?” asked the child. “I 
did not know that the day was spent. I thought 
it was still morning, and I came to thee as soon 
as I heard thy voice.” 

“Should I not weep?” said the mother. “I 
have sought for thee all day long. I believed 
that thou wert lost to me.” 

They walked the whole night, and the mother 
wept all the while. 

When day began to dawn, the child said: 
“Why dost thou weep? I have not sought 
mine own glory, but God has let me perform 


118 CHRIST LEGENDS 


miracles because He wanted to help the three 
poor creatures. As soon as I heard thy voice, 
I came to thee.”’ 

“My son,” replied the mother. “I weep 
because thou art none the less lost to me. Thou 
wilt never more belong to me. Henceforth thy 
life ambition shall be righteousness; thy long- 
ing, Paradise; and thy love shall embrace all 
the poor human beings who people this earth.” 


vv SAINT 
VERONICAS KERCHIEF 


Vien, 








V8 
























































SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 
I 
URING one of the latter years of Em- 


peror Tiberius’ reign, a poor vine-dresser 
and his wife came and settled in a solitary 
hut among the Sabine mountains. ‘They were 
strangers, and lived in absolute solitude with- 
out ever receiving a visit from a human being. 
But one morning when the laborer opened his 
door, he found, to his astonishment, that an 
old woman sat huddled up on the threshold. She 
was wrapped in a plain gray mantle, and looked 
very poor. Nevertheless, she impressed him as 
being so respect-compelling, as she rose and 
came to meet him, that it made him think of 
what the legends had to say about goddesses 
who, in the form of old women, had visited 
mortals. 

‘““ My friend,” said the old woman to the vine- 
dresser, ‘* you must not wonder that I have slept 
this night on your threshold. My parents lived 
in this hut, and here I was born nearly ninety 
years ago. I expected to find it empty and de- 

121 


122 CHRIST LEGENDS 


serted. I did not know that people still occu- 
pied it.” 

“T do not wonder that you thought a hut 
which lies so high up among these desolate hills 
should stand empty and deserted,” said the vine- 
dresser. ‘‘ But my wife and I come from a 
foreign land, and as poor strangers we have 
~not been able to find a better dwelling-place. 
But to you, who must be tired and hungry after 
the long journey, which you at your extreme age 
have undertaken, it is perhaps more welcome 
that the hut is occupied by people than by Sabine 
mountain wolves. You will at least find a bed 
within to rest on, and a bowl of goats’ milk, and 
a bread-cake, if you will accept them.” 

The old woman smiled a little, but this smile 
was so fleeting that it could not dispel the ex- 
pression of deep sorrow which rested upon her 
countenance. 

‘* T spent my entire youth up here among these 
mountains,’ she said. “I have not yet forgot- 
ten the trick of driving a wolf from his lair.” 

And she actually looked so strong and vigor- 
ous that the laborer didn’t doubt that she still 
possessed strength enough, despite her great 
age, to fight with the wild beasts of the forest. 

He repeated his invitation, and the old 
woman stepped into the cottage. She sat down 
to the frugal meal, and partook of it without 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 123 


hesitancy. Although she seemed to be well sat- 
isfied with the fare of coarse bread soaked in 
goats’ milk, both the man and his wife thought: 
“Where can this old wanderer come from? 
She has certainly eaten pheasants served on sil- 
ver plates oftener than she has drunk goats’ 
milk from earthen bowls.” 

Now and then she raised her eyes from the 
food and looked around,—as if to try and 
realize that she was back in the hut. The poor 
old home with its bare clay walls and its earth 
floor was certainly not much changed. She 
pointed out to her hosts that on the walls there 
were still visible some traces of dogs and deer 
which her father had sketched there to amuse 
his little children. And on a shelf, high up, she 
thought she saw fragments of an earthen dish 
which she herself had used to measure milk in. 

The man and his wife thought to themselves: 
* It must be true that she was born in this hut, 
but she has surely had much more to attend to 
in this life than milking goats and making but- 
ter and cheese.” 

They observed also that her thoughts were 
often far away, and that she sighed heavily and 
anxiously every time she came back to herself. 

Finally she rose from the table. She thanked 
them graciously for the hospitality she had en- 
joyed, and walked toward the door. 


- 


124 CHRIST LEGENDS 


But then it seemed to the vine-dresser that 
she was pitifully poor and lonely, and he ex- 
claimed: ‘If I am not mistaken, it was not 
your intention, when you dragged yourself up 
here last night, to leave this hut so soon. If 
you are actually as poor as you seem, it must 
have been your intention to remain here for 
the rest of your life. But now you wish to 
leave because my wife and I have taken pos- 
session of the hut.” 

The old woman did not deny that he had 
guessed rightly. ‘ But this hut, which for many 
years has been deserted, belongs to you as much 
as to me,” she said. ‘I have no right to drive 
you from it.” 

“Tt is still your parents’ hut,” said the la- 
borer, “‘ and you surely have a better right to 
it than we have. Besides, we are young and 
you are old; therefore, you shall remain and 
we will go.” 

When the old woman heard this, she was 
greatly astonished. She turned around on the 
threshold and stared at the man, as though she 
had not understood what he meant by his words. 

But now the young wife joined in the con-_ 
versation. 

“Tf I might suggest,” said she to her hus- 
band, ‘‘ I should beg you to ask this old woman 
if she won’t look upon us as her own children, 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 125 


and permit us to stay with her and take care 
of her. What service would we render her if we 
gave her this miserable hut and then left her? 
It would be terrible for her to live here in this 
wilderness alone! And what would she live 
on? It would be just like letting her starve 
to death.” 
_ The old woman went up to the man and his 
wife and regarded them carefully. ‘‘ Why do 
you speak thus?” she asked. ‘‘ Why are you 
so merciful to me? You are strangers.” 

Then the young wife answered: “ It is be- 
cause we ourselves once met with great mercy.” 


II 


This is how the old woman came to live in 
the vine-dresser’s hut. And she conceived a 
great friendship for the young people. But for 
all that she never told them whence she had 
come, or who she was, and they understood 
that she would not have taken it in good part 
had they questioned her. 

But one evening, when the day’s work was 
done, and all three sat on the big, flat rock 
which lay before the entrance, and partook of 
their evening meal, they saw an old man com- 
ing up the path. 

He was a tall and powerfully built man, with 


126 CHRIST LEGENDS 


shoulders as broad as a gladiator’s. His face 
wore a cheerless and stern expression. ‘The 
brows jutted far out over the deep-set eyes, and 
the lines around the mouth expressed bitterness 
and contempt. He walked with erect bearing 
and quick movements. 

The man wore a simple dress, and the instant 
the vine-dresser saw him, he said: ‘‘ He is an. 
old soldier, one who has been discharged from 
service and is now on his way home.” 

When the stranger came directly before them 
he paused, as if in doubt. The laborer, who 
knew that the road terminated a short distance 
beyond the hut, laid down his spoon and called 
out to him: “‘ Have you gone astray, stranger, 
since you come hither? Usually, no one takes 
the trouble to climb up here, unless he has an 
errand to one of us who live here.” 

When he questioned in this manner, the 
stranger came nearer. ‘It is as you say,” said 
he. ‘I have taken the wrong road, and now 
I know not whither I shall direct my steps. If 
you will let me rest here a while, and then tell 
me which path I shall follow to get to some 
farm, I shall be grateful to you.” 

As he spake he sat down upon one of the 
stones which lay before the hut. The young 
woman asked him if he wouldn’t share their 
supper, but this he declined with a smile. On 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 127 


the other hand it was very evident that he was 
inclined to talk with them, while they ate. He 
asked the young folks about their manner of 
living, and their work, and they answered him 
frankly and cheerfully. 

Suddenly the laborer turned toward the 
stranger and began to question him. ‘ You see 
in what a lonely and isolated way we live,” 
said he. ‘‘It must be a year at least since I 
have talked with any one except shepherds and 
vineyard laborers. Can not you, who must come 
from some camp, tell us something about Rome 
and the Emperor? ” 

Hardly had the man said this than the young 
wife noticed that the old woman gave him a 
warning glance, and made with her hand the 
sign which means—Have a care what you say. 

The stranger, meanwhile, answered very 
affably: “I understand that you take me for 
a soldier, which is not untrue, although I have 
long since left the service. During Tiberius’ 
reign there has not been much work for us 
soldiers. Yet he was once a great commander. 
Those were the days of his good fortune. Now 
he thinks of nothing except to guard himself 
against conspiracies. In Rome, every one is 
talking about how, last week, he let Senator 
Titius be seized and executed on the merest 
suspicion.” 


i238 CHRIST LEGENDS 


“The poor Emperor no longer knows what 
he does!” exclaimed the young woman; and 
shook her head in pity and surprise. 

‘You are perfectly right,” said the stranger, 
as an expression of the deepest melancholy 
crossed his countenance. ‘‘ Tiberius knows that 
every one hates him, and this is driving him 
insane.” 

“What say you?” the woman retorted. 
“Why should we hate him? We only deplore 
the fact that he is no longer the great Emperor 
he was in the beginning of his reign.” 

“You are mistaken,’ said the stranger. 
“Every one hates and detests Tiberius. Why 
should they do otherwise? He is nothing but 
a cruel and merciless tyrant. In Rome they 
think that from now on he will become even 
more unreasonable than he has been.” 

‘“Has anything happened, then, which will 
turn him into a worse beast than he is already? ” 
queried the vine-dresser. 

When he said this, the wife noticed that 
the old woman gave him a new warning signal, 
but so stealthily that he could not see it. 

The stranger answered him in a kindly man- 
ner, but at the same time a singular smile played 
about his lips. 

‘“You have heard, perhaps, that until now 
Tiberius has had a friend in his household on 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 129 


whom he could rely, and who has always told 
him the truth. All the rest who live in his 
palace are fortune-hunters and hypocrites, who 
praise the Emperor’s wicked and cunning acts 
just as much as his good and admirable ones. 
But there was, as we have said, one alone who 
never feared to let him know how his conduct 
was actually regarded. This person, who was 
more courageous than senators and generals, 
was the Emperor’s old nurse, Faustina.” 

““T have heard of her,’’ said the laborer. 
‘‘T’ve been told that the Emperor has always 
shown her great friendship.” 

‘Yes, Tiberius knew how to prize her af- 
fection and loyalty. He treated this poor peas- 
ant woman, who came from a miserable hut 
in the Sabine mountains, as his second mother. 
As long as he stayed in Rome, he let her live 
in a mansion on the Palatine, that he might 
always have her near him. None of Rome’s 
noble matrons has fared better than she. She 
was borne through the streets in a litter, and 
her dress was that of an empress. When the 
Emperor moved to Capri, she had to accom- 
pany him, and he bought a country estate for 
her there, and filled it with slaves and costly 
furnishings.” 

“She has certainly fared well,” said the 
husband. 


130 CHRIST LEGENDS 


Now it was he who kept up the conversation 
with the stranger. The wife sat silent and 
- observed with surprise the change which had 
come over the old woman. Since the stranger 
arrived, she had not spoken a word. She had 
lost her mild and friendly expression. She had 
pushed her food aside, and sat erect and rigid 
against the door-post, and stared straight ahead, 
with a severe and stony countenance. 

“It was the Emperor’s intention that she 
should have a happy life,” said the stranger. 
‘But, despite all his kindly acts, she too has 
deserted him.” 

The old woman gave a start at these words, 
but the young one laid her hand quietingly on 
her arm. Then she began to speak in her soft, 
sympathetic voice. “I can not believe that 
Faustina has been as happy at court as you 
say,’ she said, as she turned toward the 
stranger. ‘‘I am sure that she has loved 
Tiberius as if he had been her own son. I can 
understand how proud she has been of his noble 
youth, and I can even understand how it must 
have grieved her to see him abandon himself in 
his old age to suspicion and cruelty. She has 
certainly warned and admonished him every day. 
It has been terrible for her always to plead in 
vain. At last she could no longer bear to see 
him sink lower and lower.” 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 131 


The stranger, astonished, leaned forward a 
bit when he heard this; but the young woman 
did not glance up at him. She kept her eyes 
lowered, and spoke very calmly and gently. 

‘Perhaps you are right in what you say of 
the old woman,” he replied. ‘‘ Faustina has 
really not been happy at court. It seems strange, 
nevertheless, that she has left the Emperor in 
his old age, when she had endured him the span 
of a lifetime.” 

“What say you?’ asked the husband. “‘ Has 
old Faustina left the Emperor? ” 

“She has stolen away from Capri without 
any one’s knowledge,” said the stranger. ‘‘ She 
left just as poor as she came. She has not 
taken one of her treasures with her.” 

“And doesn’t the Emperor really know 
where she has gone? ’”’ asked the wife. 

‘“No! No one knows for certain what road 
the old woman has taken. Still, one takes it 
for granted that she has sought refuge among 
her native mountains.” 

‘“And the Emperor does not know, either, 
why she has gone away?” asked the young 
woman. 

“No, the Emperor knows nothing of this. 
He can not believe she left him because he 
once told her that she served him for money 
and gifts only, like all the rest. She knows, 


132 CHRIST LEGENDS 


however, that he has never doubted her un- 
selfishness. He has hoped all along that she 
would return to him voluntarily, for no one 
knows better than she that he is absolutely with- 
out friends.” | 

‘I do not know her,” said the young woman, 
“but I think I can tell you why she has left 
the Emperor. The old woman was brought up 
among these mountains in simplicity and piety, 
and she has always longed to come back here 
again. Surely she never would have abandoned. 
the Emperor if he had not insulted her. But 
- I understand that, after this, she feels she has 
the right to think of herself, since her days are 
numbered. If I were a poor woman of the 
mountains, I certainly would have acted as 
she did. I would have thought that I had done 
enough when I had served my master during 
a whole lifetime. I would at last have aban- 
doned luxury and royal favors to give my soul 
a taste of honor and integrity before it left me 
for the long journey.” 

The stranger glanced with a deep and tender 
sadness at the young woman. “ You do not 
consider that the Emperor’s propensities will 
become worse than ever. Now there is no one 
who can calm him when suspicion and misan- 
thropy take possession of him. Think of this,” 
he continued, as his melancholy gaze penetrated 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 133 


deeply into the eyes of the young woman, “ in 


all the world there is no one now whom he does 
not hate; no one whom he does not despise— 
no one!” 

As he uttered these words of bitter despair, 
the old woman made a sudden movement and 
turned toward him, but the young woman looked 
him straight in the eyes and answered: “ Ti- 
berius knows that Faustina will come back to 
him whenever he wishes it. But first she must 
know that her old eyes need never more behold 
vice and infamy at his court.” 

They had all risen during this speech; but the 
vine-dresser and his wife placed themselves in 
front of the old woman, as if to shield her. 

The stranger did not utter another syllable, 
but regarded the old woman with a questioning 
glance. Is this your last word also? he seemed 
to want to say. The old woman’s lips quivered, 
but words would not pass them. 

“If the Emperor has loved his old servant, 
then he can also let her live her last days in 
peace,” said the young woman. 

The stranger hesitated still, but suddenly his 
dark countenance brightened. ‘‘ My friends,” 
said he, ‘‘ whatever one may say of Tiberius, 
there is one thing which he has learned better 
than others; and that is—renunciation. I have 
only one thing more to say to you: If this old 


134 CHRIST LEGENDS 


woman, of whom we have spoken, should come 
to this hut, receive her well! The Emperor’s 
favor rests upon any one who succors her.” 
He wrapped his mantle about him and de- 
parted the same way that he had come. 


III 


After this, the vine-dresser and his wife never 
again spoke to the old woman about the Em- 
peror. Between themselves they marveled that 
she, at her great age, had had the strength 
to renounce all the wealth and power to which 
she had become accustomed. ‘‘ I wonder if she 
will not soon go back to Tiberius? ”’ they asked 
themselves. ‘‘It is certain that she still loves 
him. It is in the hope that it will awaken him 
to reason and enable him to repent of his low 
conduct, that she has left him.” 

‘“A man as old as the Emperor will never 
begin a new life,” said the laborer. ‘‘ How are 
you going to rid him of his great contempt for 
mankind? Who could go to him and teach him 
to love his fellow man? Until this happens, he 
can not be cured of suspicion and cruelty.” 

‘You know that there is one who could 
actually do it,” said the wife. “I often think 
of how it would turn out, if the two should 
meet. But God’s ways are not our ways.” 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 135 


The old woman did not seem to miss her 
former life at all. After a time the young wife 
gave birth to a child. The old woman had the 
care of it; she seemed so content in consequence 
that one could have thought she had forgotten 
all her sorrows. 

Once every half-year she used to wrap her 
long, gray mantle around her, and wander down 
to Rome. There she did not seek a soul, but 
went straight to the Forum. Here she stopped 
outside a little temple, which was erected on 
one side of the superbly decorated square. 

All there was of this temple was an uncom- 
monly large altar, which stood in a marble- 
paved court under the open sky. On the top 
of the altar, Fortuna, the goddess of happiness, 
was enthroned, and at its foot was a statue of 
Tiberius. Encircling the court were buildings 
for the priests, storerooms for fuel, and stalls 
for the beasts of sacrifice. 

Old Faustina’s journeys never extended be- 
yond this temple, where those who would pray 
for the welfare of Tiberius were wont to come. 
When she cast a glance in there and saw that 
both the goddess’ and the Emperor’s statue 
were wreathed in flowers; that the sacrificial fire 
burned; that throngs of reverent worshipers 
were assembled before the altar, and heard the 
priests’ Jow chants sounding thereabouts, she 


136 CHRIST LEGENDS 


turned around and went back to the moun- 
tains. 

In this way she learned, without having to 
question a human being, that Tiberius was still 
among the living, and that all was well with 
him. 

The third time she undertook this journey, 
she met with a surprise. When she reached the 
little temple, she found it empty and deserted. 
No fire burned before the statue, and not a 
worshiper was seen. A couple of dried garlands 
still hung on one side of the altar, but this 
was all that testified to its former glory. The 
priests were gone, and the Emperor’s statue, 
which stood there unguarded, was damaged and 
mud-bespattered. 

The old woman turned to the first passer-by. 
“What does this mean?” she asked. ‘Is Ti- 
berius dead? Have we another Emperor? ”’ 

“No,” replied the Roman, “ Tiberius is still 
Emperor, but we have ceased to pray for him. 
Our prayers can no longer benefit him.” 

‘““My friend,” said the old woman, “I live 
far away among the mountains, where one learns 
nothing of what happens out in the world. 
Won’t you tell me what dreadful misfortune 
has overtaken the Emperor? ” 

“The most dreadful of all misfortunes! He 
has been stricken with a disease which has never 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 137 


before been known in Italy, but which seems to 
be common in the Orient. Since this evil has 
befallen the Emperor, his features are changed, 
his voice has become like an animal’s grunt, and 
his toes and fingers are rotting away. And for 
this illness there appears to be no remedy. ‘They 
believe that he will die within a few weeks. But 
if he does not die, he will be dethroned, for 
such an ill and wretched man can no longer con- 
duct the affairs of State. You understand, of 
course, that his fate is a foregone conclusion. 
It is useless to invoke the gods for his success, 
and it is not worth while,’ he added, with a 
faint smile. ‘“‘No one has anything more 
either to fear or hope from him. Why, 
then, should we trouble ourselves on_ his 
account?” 

He nodded and walked away; but the old 
woman stood there as if stunned. 

For the first time in her life she collapsed, and 
looked like one whom age has subdued. She 
stood with bent back and trembling head, and 
with hands that groped feebly in the air. 

She longed to get away from the place, but 
she moved her feet slowly. She looked around 
to find something which she could use as a staff. 

But after a few moments, by a tremendous 
effort of the will, she succeeded in conquering 
the faintness. 


138 CHRIST LEGENDS 


IV 


A week later, old Faustina wandered up the 
steep inclines on the Island of Capri. It was 
a warm day and the dread consciousness of old 
age and feebleness came over her as she labored 
up the winding roads and the hewn-out steps 
in the mountain, which led to Tiberius’ villa. 

This feeling increased when she observed how 
changed everything had become during the time 
she had been away. In truth, on and alongside 
these steps there had always before been throngs 
of people. Here it used fairly to swarm with 
senators, borne by giant Libyans; with mes- 
sengers from the provinces attended by long 
processions of slaves; with office-seekers;- with 
noblemen invited to participate in the Emperor’s 
feasts. 

But to-day the steps and passages were en- 
tirely deserted. Gray-greenish lizards were the 
only living things which the old woman saw in 
her path. 

She was amazed to see that already everything 
appeared to be going to ruin. At most, the 
Emperor’s illness could not have progressed 
more than two months, and yet the grass had 
already taken root in the cracks between the 
marble stones. Rare growths, planted in beau- 
tiful vases, were already withered and here and 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 139 


there mischievous spoilers, whom no one had 
taken the trouble to stop, had broken down the 
balustrade. 

But to her the most singular thing of all 
was the entire absence of people. Even if 
strangers were forbidden to appear on the 
island, attendants at least should still be found 
there: the endless crowds of soldiers and slaves; 
of dancers and musicians; of cooks and stewards; 
of palace-sentinels and gardeners, who belonged 
to the Emperor’s household. 

When Faustina reached the upper terrace, she 
caught sight of two slaves, who sat on the steps 
in front of the villa. As she approached, they 
rose and bowed to her. 

‘“‘ Be greeted, Faustina!” said one of them. 
‘It is a god who sends thee to lighten our 
sorrows.” 

“What does this mean, Milo? ”’ asked Faus- 
tina. ‘‘ Why is it so deserted here? Yet they 
have told me that Tiberius still lives at Capri.” 

‘The Emperor has driven away all his slaves 
because he suspects that one of us has given 
him poisoned wine to drink, and that this has 
brought on the illness. He would have driven 
even Tito and myself away, if we had not re- 
fused to obey him; yet, as you know, we have all 
our lives served the Emperor and his mother.” 

‘““T do not ask after slaves only,” said Faus- 


140 _ CHRIST LEGENDS 


tina. ‘“‘ Where are the senators and field mar- 
shals? Where are the Emperor’s intimate 
friends, and all the fawning fortune-hunters? ” 

“Tiberius does not wish to show himself 
before strangers,” said the slave. ‘‘ Senator 
Lucius and Marco, Commander of the Life 
Guard, come here every day and receive orders. 
No one else may approach him.” 

Faustina had gone up the steps to enter the 
villa. The slave went before her, and on the 
way she asked: “ What say the physicians of 
Tiberius’ illness? ” 

‘“ None of them understands how to treat this 
illness. They do not even know if it kills quickly 
or slowly. But this I can tell you, Faustina, 
Tiberius must die if he continues to refuse all 
food for fear it may be poisoned. And I know 
that a sick man can not stay awake night and 
' day, as the Emperor does, for fear he may be 
murdered in his sleep. If he will trust you as in 
former days, you might succeed in making him 
eat and sleep. Thereby you can prolong his 
life for many days.” 

The slave conducted Faustina through several 
passages and courts to a terrace which Tiberius 
used to frequent to enjoy the view of the beau- 
tiful bays and proud Vesuvius. 

When Faustina stepped out upon the terrace, 
she saw a hideous creature with a swollen face 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF I4!I 


and animal-like features. His hands and feet 
were swathed in white bandages, but through 
the bandages protruded half-rotted fingers and 
toes. And this being’s clothes were soiled and 
dusty. It was evident he could not walk erect, 
but had been obliged to crawl out upon the 
terrace. He lay with closed eyes near the balus- 
trade at the farthest end, and did not move 
when the slave and Faustina came. 

Faustina whispered to the slave, who walked 
before her: ‘“‘ But, Milo, how can such a creature 
be found here on the Emperor’s private terrace? 
Make haste, and take him away!” 

But she had scarcely said this when she saw 
the slave bow to the ground before the miserable 
creature who lay there. 

‘‘ Cesar Tiberius,” said he, “at last I have 
glad tidings to bring thee.”’ 

At the same time the slave turned toward 
Faustina, but he shrank back, aghast! and could 
not speak another word. 

He did not behold the proud matron who had 
looked so strong that one might have expected 
that she would live to the age of a sibyl. In 
this moment, she had drooped into impotent 
age, and the slave saw before him a bent old 
woman with misty eyes and fumbling hands. 

Faustina had certainly heard that the Em- 
peror was terribly changed, yet never for a 


142 CHRIST LEGENDS 


moment had she ceased to think of him as 
the strong man he was when she last saw him. 
She had also heard some one say that this 
illness progressed slowly, and that it took years 
to transform a human being. But here it had 
advanced with such virulence that it had made 
the Emperor unrecognizable in just two months. 

She tottered up to the Emperor. She could 
not speak, but stood silent beside him, and 
wept. 

‘“Are you come now, Faustina?” he said, 
without opening his eyes. ‘I lay and fancied 
that you stood here and wept over me. I dare 
not look up for fear I will find that it was only 
an illusion.” 

Then the old woman sat down beside him. 
She raised his head and placed it on her 
knee. 

But Tiberius lay still, without looking at her. 
A sense of sweet repose enfolded him, and the 
next moment he sank into a peaceful slumber. 


V 


A few weeks later, one of the Emperor’s 
slaves came to the lonely hut in the Sabine moun- 
tains. It drew on toward evening, and the vine- 
dresser and his wife stood in the doorway and - 
saw the sun set in the distant west. ‘The slave 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 143 


turned out of the path, and came up and greeted 
them. Thereupon he took a heavy purse, which 
he carried in his girdle, and laid it in the hus- 
band’s hand. 

‘“* This, Faustina, the old woman to whom 
you have shown compassion, sends you,” said 
the slave. ‘She begs that with this money 
you will purchase a vineyard of your own, and 
build you a house that does not lie as high in 
the air as the eagles’ nests.” 

“Old Faustina still lives, then?’ said the 
husband. ‘‘ We have searched for her in cleft 
and morass. When she did not come back 
to us, I thought that she had met her death in 
these wretched mountains.” 

‘Don’t you remember,” the wife interposed, 
“that I would not believe that she was dead? 
Did I not say to you that she had gone back 
to the Emperor?” 

This the husband admitted. ‘And I am 
glad,” he added, “that you were right, not 
only because Faustina has become rich enough 
to help us out of our poverty, but also on 
the poor Emperor’s account.” 

The slave wanted to say farewell at once, in 
order to reach densely settled quarters before 
dark, but this the couple would not permit. 
“You must stop with us until morning,” said 
they. ‘“‘ We can not let you go before you 


144 CHRIST LEGENDS 


have told us all that has happened to Faustina. 
Why has she returned to the Emperor? What 
was their meeting like? Are they glad to be 
together again?” 

The slave yielded to these solicitations. He 
followed them into the hut, and during the 
evening meal he told them all about the Em- 
peror’s illness and Faustina’s return. 

When the slave had finished his narrative, 
he saw that both the man and the woman sat 
motionless—dumb with amazement. Their gaze 
was fixed on the ground, as though not to be- 
tray the emotion which affected them. 

Finally the man looked up and said to his 
wife: ‘Don’t you believe God has decreed 
this? ” 

“Yes,” said the wife, ‘‘ surely it was for this 
that our Lord sent us across the sea to this lonely 
hut. Surely this was His purpose when He 
sent the old woman to our door.” 

As soon as the wife had spoken these words, 
the vine-dresser turned again to the slave. 

“Friend! ”’ he said to him, ‘ you shall carry 
a message from me to Faustina. ‘Tell her this 
word for word! Thus your friend the vineyard 
laborer from the Sabine mountains greets you. 
You have seen the young woman, my wife. Did 
she not appear fair to you, and blooming with 
health? And yet this young woman once suf- 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 145 


fered from the same disease which now has 
stricken Tiberius.” 

The slave made a gesture of surprise, but the 
vine-dresser continued with greater emphasis on 
his words. 

‘“‘ Tf Faustina refuses to believe my word, tell 
her that my wife and I came from Palestine, 
in Asia, a land where this disease is common. 
There the law is such that the lepers are driven 
from the cities and towns, and must live in tombs 
and mountain grottoes. Tell Faustina that my 
wife was born of diseased parents in a mountain 
grotto. As long as she was a child she was 
healthy, but when she grew up into young 
maidenhood she was stricken with the disease.” 

The slave bowed, smiled pleasantly, and said: 
‘How can you expect that Faustina will be- 
lieve this? She has seen your wife in her beauty 
and health. And she must know that there is 
no remedy for this illness.” 

The man replied: “‘ It were best for her that 
she believed me., But I am not without wit- 
nesses. She can send inquiries over to Nazareth, 
in Galilee. There every one will confirm my 
statement.” 

“Ts it perchance through a miracle of some 
god that your wife has been cured?” asked the 
slave. 

‘Yes, it is as you say,” answered the laborer. 


146 CHRIST LEGENDS 


““One day a rumor reached the sick who lived 
in the wilderness: ‘ Behold, a great Prophet has 
arisen in Nazareth of Galilee. He is filled with 
the power of God’s spirit, and he can cure your 
illness just by laying his hand upon your fore- 
head!’ But the sick, who lay in their misery, 
would not believe that this rumor was the truth. 
‘No one can heal us,’ they said. ‘Since the 
days of the great prophets no one has been able 
to save one of us from this misfortune.’ 
“But there was one amongst them who be- 
lieved, and that was a young maiden. She left 
the others to seek her way to the city of Naz- 
areth, where the Prophet lived. One day, when 
she wandered over wide plains, she met a man 
tall of stature, with a pale face and hair which 
lay in even, black curls. His dark eyes shone 
like stars and drew her toward him. But be- 
fore they met, she called out to him: ‘ Come 
not near me, for I am unclean, but tell me where 
I can find the Prophet from Nazareth!’ But 
the man continued to walk towards her, and 
when he stood directly in front of her, he said: 
‘Why seekest thou the Prophet of Nazareth?’ 
—‘I seek him that he may lay his hand on my 
forehead and heal me of my illness.’ Then 
the man went up and laid his hand upon her 
brow. But she said to him: ‘ What doth it avail 
me that you lay your hand upon my forehead? 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 147 


You surely are no prophet?’ Then he smiled 
on her and said: ‘ Go now into the city which 
lies yonder at the foot of the mountain, and 
show thyself before the priests!’ 

“The sick maiden thought to herself: ‘ He 
mocks me because I believe I can be healed. 
From him I can not learn what I would know.’ 
And she went farther. Soon thereafter she saw 
a man, who was going out to hunt, riding across 
the wide field. When he came so near that 
he could hear her, she called to him: ‘ Come 
not close to me, I am unclean! But tell me 
where I can find the Prophet of Nazareth!’ 
‘What do you want of the Prophet?’ asked the 
man, riding slowly toward her. ‘I wish only 
that he might lay his hand on my forehead and 
heal me of my illness.’ The man rode still 
nearer. ‘Of what illness do you wish to be 
healed?’ said he. ‘Surely you need no phy- 
sician!’ ‘Can’t you see that I am a leper?’ 
said she. ‘I was born of diseased parents in a 
mountain grotto.’ But the man continued to 
approach, for she was beautiful and fair, like 
a new-blown rose. ‘ You are the most beauti- 
ful maiden in Judea!’ he exclaimed. ‘ Ah, 
taunt me not—you, too!’ said she. ‘I know 
that my features are destroyed, and that my 
voice is like a wild beast’s growl.’ 

“He looked deep into her eyes and said to 


148 CHRIST LEGENDS 


her: ‘ Your voice is as resonant as the spring 
brook’s when it ripples over pebbles, and your 
face is as smooth as a coverlet of soft satin.’ 

“That moment he rode so close to her that 
she could see her face in the shining mountings 
which decorated his saddle. ‘ You shall look 
at yourself here,’ said he. She did so, and saw 
a face smooth and soft as a newly-formed but- 
terfly wing. ‘ What is this that I see?’ she said. 
‘This is not my face!’ ‘ Yes, it is your face,’ 
said the rider. ‘ But my voice, is it not rough? 
Does it not sound as when wagons are drawn 
over a stony road?’ ‘No! It sounds like a 
zither player’s sweetest songs,’ said the rider. 

“She turned and pointed toward the road. 
‘Do you know who that man is just disappear- 
ing behind the two oaks?’ she asked. 

“Tt is he whom you lately asked after; it is 
the Prophet from Nazareth,’ said the man. 
Then she clasped her hands in astonishment, 
and tears filled her eyes. ‘Oh, thou Holy One! 
Oh, thou Messenger of God’s power!’ she 
cried. ‘Thou hast healed me!’ 

‘Then the rider lifted her into the saddle 
and bore her to the city at the foot of the 
mountain and went with her to the priests and 
elders, and told them how he had found her. 
They questioned her carefully; but when they 
heard that the maiden was born in the wilder- 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 149 


ness of diseased parents, they would not believe 
that she was healed. ‘Go back thither whence 
you came!’ said they. ‘If you have been ill, 
you must remain so as long as you live. You 
must not come here to the city, to infect the 
rest of us with your disease.’ 

‘ She said to them: ‘I know that I am well, 
for the Prophet from Nazareth hath laid his 
hand upon my forehead.’ 

‘When they heard this they exclaimed: 
‘Who is he, that he should be able to make 
clean the unclean? All this is but a delusion 
of the evil spirits. Go back to your own, that 
you may not bring destruction upon all of us!’ 

“They would not declare her healed, and 
they forbade her to remain in the city. They 
decreed that each and every one who gave her 
shelter should also be adjudged unclean. 

‘When the priests had pronounced this judg- 
ment, the young maiden turned to the man who 
had found her 4n the field: ‘Whither shall I 
go now? Must I go back again to the lepers 
in the wilderness?’ 

‘“ But the man lifted her once more upon his 
horse, and said to her: ‘ No, under no condi- 
tions shall you go out to the lepers in their 
mountain caves, but we two shall travel across 
the sea to another land, where there are no 
laws for clean and unclean.’ And they i 





150 CHRIST LEGENDS 


But when the vineyard laborer had got thus 
far in his narrative, the slave arose and inter- 
rupted him. ‘‘You need not tell any more,” 
said he. ‘Stand up rather and follow me on 
the way, you who know the mountains, so that 
I can begin my home journey to-night, and not 
wait until morning. The Emperor and Faustina 
can not hear your tidings a moment too soon.” 

When the vine-dresser had accompanied the 
slave, and come home again to the hut, he found 
his wife still awake. 

‘“T can not sleep,” said she. ‘I am think- 
ing that these two will meet: he who loves all 
mankind, and he who hates them. Such a 
meeting would be enough to sweep the earth out 
of existence! ” 


VI 


Old Faustina was in distant Palestine, on her 
way to Jerusalem. She had not desired that 
the mission to seek the Prophet and bring him 
to the Emperor should be intrusted to any one 
but herself. She said to herself: ‘‘ That which 
we demand of this stranger, is something which 
we can not coax from him either by force 
or bribes. But perhaps he will grant it us if 
some one falls at his feet and tells him in 
what dire need the Emperor is. Who can make 
an honest plea for Tiberius, but the one who 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF I5I 


suffers from his misfortune as much as he 
does?” 

The hope of possibly saving Tiberius had 
renewed the old woman’s youth. She with- 
stood without difficulty the long sea trip to 
Joppa, and on the journey to Jerusalem she 
made no use of a litter, but rode a horse. She 
appeared to stand the difficult ride as easily 
as the Roman nobles, the soldiers, and the slaves 
who made up her retinue. 

The journey from Joppa to Jerusalem filled 
the old woman’s heart with joy and bright 
hopes. It was springtime, and Sharon’s plain, 
over which they had ridden during the first 
day’s travel, had been a brilliant carpet of 
flowers. Even during the second day’s journey, 
when they came to the hills of Judea, they were 
not abandoned by the flowers. All the multi- 
formed hills between which the road wound 
were planted with fruit trees, which stood in full 
bloom. And when the travelers wearied of 
looking at the white and red blossoms of the 
apricots and persimmons, they could rest their 
eyes by observing the young vine-leaves, which 
pushed their way through the dark brown 
branches, and their growth was so rapid that 
one could almost follow it with the eye. : 

It was not only flowers and spring green that 
made the journey pleasant, but the pleasure was 


152 CHRIST LEGENDS 


enhanced by watching the throngs of people 
who were on their way to Jerusalem this morn- 
ing. From all the roads and by-paths, from 
lonely heights, and from the most remote cor- 
ners of the plain came travelers. When they 
had reached the road to Jerusalem, those who 
traveled alone formed themselves into com- 
panies and marched forward with glad shouts. 
Round an elderly man, who rode on a jogging 
camel, walked his sons and daughters, his sons- 
in-law and daughters-in-law, and all his grand- 
children. It was such a large family that it 
made up an entire little village. An old grand- 
mother who was too feeble to walk her sons 
had taken in their arms, and with pride she 
let herself be borne among the crowds, who 
respectfully stepped aside. 

In truth, it was a morning to inspire joy even 
in the most disconsolate. To be sure the sky 
was not clear, but was o’ercast with a thin 
grayish-white mist, but none of the wayfarers 
thought of grumbling because the sun’s piercing 
brilliancy was dampened. Under this veiled sky 
the perfume of the budding leaves and blossoms 
did not penetrate the air as usual, but lingered 
over roads and fields. And this beautiful day, 
with its faint mist and hushed winds, which 
reminded one of Night’s rest and calm, seemed 
to communicate to the hastening crowds some- 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 153 


what of itself, so that they went forward happy 
—yet with solemnity—singing in subdued voices 
ancient hymns, or playing upon peculiar old- 
fashioned instruments, from which came tones 
like the buzzing of gnats, or grasshoppers’ 
piping. 

When old Faustina rode forward among all 
the people, she became infected with their joy 
and exeitement. She prodded her horse to 
quicker speed, as she said to a young Roman 
who rode beside her: ‘‘ I dreamt last night that 
I saw Tiberius, and he implored me not to 
postpone the journey, but to ride to Jerusalem 
to-day. It appears as if the gods had wished to 
send me a warning not to neglect to go there 
this beautiful morning.” 

Just as she said this, she came to the top 
of a long mountain ridge, and there she was 
obliged to halt. Before her lay a large, deep 
valley-basin, surrounded by pretty hills, and 
from the dark, shadowy depths of the vale rose 
the massive mountain which held on its head 
the city of Jerusalem. 

But the narrow mountain city, with its walls 
and towers, which lay like a jeweled coronet 
upon the cliff’s smooth height, was this day mag- 
nified a thousand-fold. All the hills which 
encircled the valley were bedecked with gay 
tents, and with a swarm of human beings. 


154 CHRIST LEGENDS 


It was evident to Faustina that all the in- 
habitants were on their way to Jerusalem to 
celebrate some great holiday. Those from a 
distance had already come, and had managed 
to put their tents in order. On the other hand, 
those who lived near the city were still on 
their way. Along all the shining rock-heights 
one saw them come streaming in like an un- 
broken sea of white robes, of songs, of holiday 
cheer. 

For some time the old woman surveyed these 
seething throngs of people and the long rows 
of tent-poles. Thereupon she said to the young 
Roman who rode beside her: 

“Verily, Sulpicius, the whole nation must 
have come to Jerusalem.” 

“Tt really appears like it,’ replied the 
Roman, who had been chosen by Tiberius to 
accompany Faustina because he had, during a 
number of years, lived in Judea. ‘‘ They cele- 
brate now the great Spring Festival, and at this 
time all the people, both old and young, come 
_ to Jerusalem.” 

Faustina reflected a moment. ‘I am glad 
that we came to this city on the day that the 
people celebrate their festival,’ said she. “ It 
can not signify anything else than that the gods 
protect our journey. Do you think it likely 
that he whom we seek, the Prophet of Nazareth, 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 155 


has also come to Jerusalem to participate in the 
festivities?” 

“You are surely right, Faustina,” said the 
Roman. “ He must be here in Jerusalem. This 
is indeed a decree of the gods. Strong and vig- 
orous though you be, you may consider your- 
self fortunate if you escape making the long 
and troublesome journey up to Galilee.” 

At once he rode over to a couple of way- 
farers and asked them if they thought the 
Prophet of Nazareth was in Jerusalem. 

‘““We have seen him here every day at this 
season,” answered one. “Surely he must be 
here even this year, for he is a holy and right- 
eous man.” 

A woman stretched forth her hand and 
pointed towards a hill, which lay east of the 


city. ‘Do you see the foot of that moun- 
tain, which is covered with olive trees?” she 
said. “It is there that the Galileans usually 


raise their tents, and there you will get the 
most reliable information about him whom you 
seek.”’ 

They journeyed farther, and traveled on a 
winding path all the way down to the bottom 
of the valley, and then they began to ride 
up toward Zion’s hill, to reach the city on 
its heights. The woman who had spoken went 
along the same way. 


156 CHRIST LEGENDS 


The steep ascending road was encompassed 
here by low walls, and upon these countless 
beggars and cripples sat or lolled. ‘“‘ Look,” 
said the woman who had spoken, pointing to 
one of the beggars who sat on the wall, ‘‘ there 
is a Galilean! I recollect that I have seen him 
among the Prophet’s disciples. He can tell you 
where you will find him you seek.” 

Faustina and Sulpicius rode up to the man 
who had been pointed out to her. He was a 
poor old’ man with a heavy iron-gray beard. 
His face was bronzed by heat and sunshine. He 
asked no alms; on the contrary, he was so 
engrossed in anxious thought that he did not 
even glance at the passers-by. 

Nor did he hear that Sulpicius addressed him, 
and the latter had to repeat his question several 
times. 

“My friend, I’ve been told that you are a 
Galilean. I beg you, therefore, to tell me where 
I shall find the Prophet from Nazareth!” 

The Galilean gave a sudden start and looked 
around him, confused. But when he finally com- 
prehended what was wanted of him, he was 
seized with rage mixed with terror. ‘‘ What are 
you talking about?” he burst out. ‘‘ Why do 
you ask me about that man? I know nothing 
of him. I’m not a Galilean.” 

The Hebrew woman now joined in the con- 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 157 


versation. “ Still I have seen you in his com- 
pany,” she protested. ‘‘ Do not fear, but tell 
this noble Roman lady, who is the Emperor’s 
friend, where she is most likely to find him.” 

But the terrified disciple grew more and more 
irascible. ‘‘ Have all the people gone mad to- 
day?” said he. ‘‘ Are they possessed by an 
evil spirit, since they come again and again 
and ask me about that man? Why will no one 
believe me when I say that I do not know the 
Prophet? I do not come from his country. I 
have never seen him.” 

His irritability attracted attention, and a 
couple of beggars who sat on the wall beside 
him also began to dispute his word. 

“Certainly you were among his disciples,” 
said one. ‘‘ We all know that you came with 
him from Galilee.” 

Then the man raised his arms toward heaven 
and cried: ‘‘ [ could not endure it in Jerusalem 
to-day on that man’s account, and now they will 
not even leave me in peace out here among 
the beggars! Why don’t you believe me when 
I say to you that I have never seen him?” 

Faustina turned away with a shrug. “ Let 
us go farther!”’ said she. ‘‘ The man is mad. 
From him we will learn nothing.” 

They went farther up the mountain. Faus- 
tina was not more than two steps from the 


158 CHRIST LEGENDS 


city gate, when the Hebrew woman who had 
wished to help her find the Prophet called to 
her to be careful. She pulled in her reins and 
saw that a man lay in the road, just in front 
of the horse’s feet, where the crush was 
greatest. It was a miracle that he had not 
already been trampled to death by animals or 
people. 

The man lay upon his back and stared up- 
ward with lusterless eyes. He did not move, 
although the camels placed their heavy feet 
close beside him. He was poorly clad, and 
besides he was covered with dust and dirt. In 
fact, he had thrown so much gravel over him- 
self that it looked as if he tried to hide himself, 
to be more easily over-ridden and trampled 
down. 

‘What does this mean? Why does this man 
lie here on the road?”’ asked Faustina. 

Instantly the man began shouting to the 
passers-by : 

‘In mercy, brothers and sisters, drive your 
horses and camels over me! Do not turn aside 
forme! ‘Trample me to dust! I have betrayed 
innocent blood. ‘Trample me to dust! ”’ 

Sulpicius caught Faustina’s horse by the 
bridle and turned it to one side. “ It is a sin- 
ner who wants to do penance,” said he. ‘‘ Do 
not let this delay your journey. ‘These people 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 159 


are peculiar and one must let them follow their 
own bent.” 

The man in the road continued to shout: ‘‘ Set 
your heels on my heart! Let the camels crush 
my breast and the asses dig their hoofs into 
my eyes!” 

But Faustina seemed loath to ride past the 
miserable man without trying to make him rise. 
She remained all the while beside him. 

The Hebrew woman who had wished to serve 
her once before, pushed her way forward again. 
‘This man also belonged to the Prophet’s dis- 
ciples,” said she. ‘‘ Do you wish me to ask him 
about his Master? ” 

Faustina nodded affirmatively, and the woman 
bent down over the man. 

“What have you Galileans done this day 
with your Master?” she asked. ‘‘I meet you 
scattered on highways and byways, but him I 
see nowhere.” P 

But when she questioned in this manner, the 
man who lay in the dust rose to his knees. 
‘What evil spirit hath possessed you to ask me 
about him?” he said, in a voice that was filled 
with despair. ‘‘ You see, surely, that I have lain 
down in the road to be trampled to death. Is 
not that enough for you? Shall you come also 
and ask me what I have done with him?” 

When she repeated the question, the man 


160 CHRIST LEGENDS 


staggered to his feet and put both hands to 
his ears. 

‘Woe unto you, that you can not let me die 
in peace!”’ he cried. He forced his way 
through the crowds that thronged in front of 
the gate, and rushed away shrieking with terror, 
while his torn robe fluttered around him like 
dark wings. 

‘It appears to me as though we had come 
to a nation of madmen,” said Faustina, when she 
saw the man flee. She had become depressed by 
seeing these disciples of the Prophet. Could 
the man who numbered such fools among his 
followers do anything for the Emperor? 

Even the Hebrew woman looked distressed, 
and she said very earnestly to Faustina: ‘‘ Mis- 
tress, delay not in your search for him whom 
you would find! I fear some evil has befallen 
him, since his disciples are beside themselves 
and can not bear to hear him spoken of.” 

Faustina and her retinue finally rode through 
the gate archway and came in on the narrow 
and dark streets, which were alive with people. 
It seemed well-nigh impossible to get through 
the city. The riders time and again had to stand 
still. Slaves and soldiers tried in vain to clear 
the way. The people continued to rush on in 
a compact, irresistible stream. 

‘ Verily,”’ said the old woman, “the streets 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 161 


of Rome are peaceful pleasure gardens com- 
pared with these! ” 

Sulpicius soon saw that almost insurmounta- 
ble difficulties awaited them. 

‘“On these overcrowded streets it is easier to 
walk than to ride,” said he. “If you are not 
too fatigued, I should advise you to walk to 
the Governor’s palace. It is a good distance 
away, but if we ride we certainly will not get 
there until after midnight.” 

Faustina accepted the suggestion at once. She 
dismounted, and left her horse with one of the 
slaves. Thereupon the Roman travelers began 
to walk through the city. 

This was much better. They pushed their 
way quickly toward the heart of the city, and 
Sulpicius showed Faustina a rather wide street, 
which they were nearing. 

‘* Look, Faustina,” he said, ‘‘ if we take this 
street, we will soon be there. It leads directly 
down to our quarters.” 

But just as they were about to turn into 
the street, the worst obstacle met them. 

It happened that the very moment when 
Faustina reached the street which extended from 
the Governor’s palace to Righteousness’ Gate 
and Golgotha, they brought through it a pris- 
oner, who was to be taken out and crucified. 
Before him ran a crowd of wild youths who 


162 CHRIST LEGENDS 


wanted to witness the execution. They raced 
up the street, waved their arms in rapture to- 
wards the hill, and emitted unintelligible howls 
—in their delight at being allowed to view some- 
thing which they did not see every day. 

Behind them came companies of men in silken 
robes, who appeared to belong to the city’s 
élite and foremost. Then came women, many 
of whom had tear-stained faces. A gathering 
of poor and maimed staggered forward, utter- 
ing shrieks that pierced the ears. 

‘“O God!” they cried, ‘‘save him! Send 
Thine angel and save him! Send a deliverer 
in his direst need! ” 

Finally there came a few Roman soldiers on 
great horses. ‘They kept guard so that none 
of the people could dash up to the prisoner 
and try to rescue him. 

Directly behind them followed the execu- 
tioners, whose task it was to lead forward the 
man that was to be crucified. They had laid 
a heavy wooden cross over his shoulder, but 
he was too weak for this burden. It weighed 
him down so that his body was almost bent 
to the ground. He held his head down so far 
that no one could see his face. 

Faustina stood at the opening of the little by- 
street and saw the doomed man’s heavy tread. 
She noticed, with surprise, that he wore a pur- 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 163 


ple mantle, and that a crown of thorns was 
pressed down upon his head. 

‘““ Who is this man?”’ she asked. 

One of the bystanders answered her: “ It 
is one who wished to make himself Emperor.” 

‘“‘ And must he suffer death for a thing which 
is scarcely worth striving after?” said the old 
woman sadly. 

The doomed man staggered under the cross. 
He dragged himself forward more and more 
slowly. The executioners had tied a rope 
around his waist, and they began to pull on 
it to hasten the speed. But as they pulled the 
rope the man fell, and lay there with the cross 
over him. 

There was a terrible uproar. The Roman 
soldiers had all they could do to hold the crowds 
back. They drew their swords on a couple of | 
women who tried to rush forward to help the 
fallen man. The executioners attempted to 
force him up with cuffs and lashes, but he could 
not move because of the cross. Finally two of 
them took hold of the cross to remove it. 

Then he raised his head, and old Faustina 
could see his face. The cheeks were streaked 
by lashes from a whip, and from his brow, which 
was wounded by the thorn-crown, trickled some 
drops of blood. His hair hung in knotted 
tangles, clotted with sweat and blood. His jaw 


164 CHRIST LEGENDS 


was firm set, but his lips trembled, as if they 
struggled to suppress a cry. His eyes, tear- 
‘filled and almost blinded from torture and 
fatigue, stared straight ahead. 

But back of this half-dead person’s face, the 
oldwoman saw—as in a vision—a pale and beau- 
tiful One with glorious, majestic eyes and gentle 
features, and she was seized with sudden grief 
—touched by the unknown man’s misfortune 
and degradation. 

“Oh, what have they done with you, you 
poor soul!” she burst out, and moved a step 
nearer him, while her eyes filled with tears. 
She forgot her own sorrow and anxiety for this 
tortured man’s distress. She thought her heart 
would burst from pity. She, like the other 
women, wanted to rush forward and tear him 
away from the executioners! 

The fallen man saw how she came toward 
him, and he crept closer to her. It was as 
though he had expected to find protection with 
her against all those who persecuted and tor- 
tured him. He embraced her knees. He 
pressed himself against her, like a child who 
clings close to his mother for safety. 

The old woman bent over him, and as the 
tears streamed down her cheeks, she felt the 
most blissful joy because he had come and 
sought protection with her. She placed one arm 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 165 


around his neck, and as a mother first of all 
wipes away the tears from her child’s eyes, she 
laid her kerchief of sheer fine linen over his face, 
to wipe away the tears and the blood. 

But now the executioners were ready with the 
cross. They came now and snatched away the 
prisoner. Impatient over the delay, they 
dragged him off in wild haste. The condemned 
man uttered a groan when he was led away 
from the refuge he had found, but he made no 
resistance. 

Faustina embraced him to hold him back, 
and when her feeble old hands were powerless 
and she saw him borne away, she felt as if 
some one had torn from her her own child, 
and she cried: “No, no! Do not take him 
from me! He must not die! He shall not 
die!” 

She felt the most intense grief and indigna- 
tion because he was being led away. She wanted 
to rush after him. She wanted to fight with 
the executioners and tear him from them. 

But with the first step she took, she was 
seized with weakness and dizziness. Sulpicius 
made haste to place his arm around her, to 
prevent her from falling. 

On one side of the street he saw a little shop, 
and carried her in. There was neither bench 
nor chair inside, but the shopkeeper was a 


166 CHRIST LEGENDS 


kindly man. He helped her over to a rug, and 
arranged a bed for her on the stone floor. 

She was not unconscious, but such a great 
dizziness had seized her that she could not sit 
up, but was forced to lie down. 

‘““She has made a long journey to-day, and 
the noise and crush in the city have been too 
much for her,” said Sulpicius to the merchant. 
‘She is very old, and no one is so strong as 
not to be conquered by age.”’ 

‘This is a trying day, even for one who is 
not old,” said the merchant. ‘‘ The air is almost 
too heavy to breathe. It would not surprise me 
if a severe storm were in store for us.” 

Sulpicius bent over the old woman. She had 
fallen asleep, and she slept with calm, regular 
respirations after all the excitement and fatigue. 

He walked over to the shop door, stood there, 
and looked at the crowds while he awaited her 
waking. 


VII 


~The Roman governor at Jerusalem had a 
young wife, and she had had a dream during 
the night preceding the day when Faustina en- 
tered the city. 

She dreamed that she stood on the roof of 
her house and looked down upon the beautiful 
court, which, according to the Oriental custom, 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 167 


was paved with marble, and planted with rare 
growths. 

But in the court she saw assembled all the 
sick and blind and halt there were in the world. 
She saw before her the pest-ridden, with bodies 
swollen with boils; lepers with disfigured faces; 
the paralytics, who could not move, but lay 
helpless upon the ground, and all the wretched 
creatures who writhed in torment and pain. 

They all crowded up towards the entrance, 
to get into the house; and a number of those 
who walked foremost pounded on the palace 
door. ) 

At last she saw that a slave opened the door 
and came out on the threshold, and she heard 
him ask what they wanted. 

Then they answered him, saying: ‘“‘ We seek 
the great Prophet whom God hath sent to the 
world. Where is the Prophet of Nazareth, 
he who is master of all suffering? Where is he 
who can deliver us from all our torment?” 

Then the slave answered them in an arrogant 
and indifferent tone—as palace servants do when 
they turn away the poor stranger: 

‘Tt will profit you nothing to seek the great 
Prophet. Pilate has killed him.” 

Then there arose among all the sick a grief 
and a moaning and a gnashing of teeth which 
she could not bear to hear. Her heart was 


168 CHRIST LEGENDS 


wrung with compassion, and tears streamed 
from her eyes. But when she had begun to 
weep, she awakened. 

Again she fell asleep; and again she dreamed 
that she stood on the roof of her house and 
looked down upon the big court, which was as 
broad as a square. 

- And behold! the court was filled with all the 

insane and soul-sick and those possessed of evil 
spirits. And she saw those who were naked 
and those who were covered with their long 
hair, and those who had braided themselves 
crowns of straw and mantles of grass and be- 
lieved they were kings, and those who crawled 
on the ground and thought themselves beasts, 
and those who came dragging heavy stones, 
which they believed to be gold, and those who 
thought that the evil spirits spoke through their 
mouths. 

She saw all these crowd up toward the palace 
gate. And the ones who stood nearest to it 
knocked and pounded to get in. 

At last the door opened, and a slave stepped 
out on the threshold and asked: ‘‘ What do 
you want?” 

Then all began to cry aloud, saying: ‘‘ Where 
is the great Prophet of Nazareth, he who was 
sent of God, and who shall restore to us our 
souls and our wits?” 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 169 


She heard the slave answer them in the most 
indifferent tone: ‘It is useless for you to seek 
the great Prophet, Pilate has killed him.” 

When this was said, they uttered a shriek as 
wild as a beast’s howl, and in their despair they 
began to lacerate themselves until the blood ran 
down on the stones. And when she that dreamed 
saw their distress, she wrung her hands and 
moaned. And her own moans awakened 
her. 

But again she fell asleep, and again, in her 
dream, she was on the roof of her house. 
Round about her sat her slaves, who played 
for her upon cymbals and zithers, and the al- 
mond trees shook their white blossoms over 
her, and clambering rose-vines exhaled their 
perfume. 

As she sat there, a voice spoke to her: ‘‘ Go 
over to the balustrade which incloses the roof, 
and see who they are that stand and wait in 
your court!” 

But in the dream she declined, and said: ‘‘ I 
do not care to see any more of those who throng 
my court to-night.” 

Just then she heard a clanking of chains and 
a pounding of heavy hammers, and the pound- 
ing of wood against wood. Her slaves ceased 
their singing and playing and hurried over to 
the railing and looked down. Nor could she 


170 ' CHRIST LEGENDS 


herself remain seated, but walked thither and 
looked down on the court. 

Then she saw that the court was filled with 
all the poor prisoners in the world. She saw 
those who must lie in dark prison dungeons, 
fettered with heavy chains; she saw those who 
labored in the dark mines come dragging their 
heavy planks, and those who were rowers on 
war galleys come with their heavy iron-bound 
oars. And those who were condemned to be 
crucified came dragging their crosses, and those 
who were to be beheaded came with their broad- 
axes. She saw those who were sent into slavery 
to foreign lands and whose eyes burned with 
homesickness. She saw those who must serve 
as beasts of burden, and whose backs were bleed- 
ing from lashes. 

All these unfortunates cried as with one voice: 
** Open, open! ” 

Then the slave who guarded the entrance 
stepped to the door and asked: “ What is it 
that you wish?”’ 

And these answered like the others: “‘ We 
seek the great Prophet of Nazareth, who has 
come to the world to give the prisoners their 
freedom and the slaves their lost happiness.”’ 

The slave answered them in a tired and in- 
different tone: ‘“‘ You can not find him here. 


Pilate has killed him.”’ 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 171 


When this was said, she who dreamed 
thought that among all the unhappy there arose 
such an outburst of scorn and blasphemy that 
heaven and earth trembled. She was ice-cold 
with fright, and her body shook so that she 
awaked. 

When she was thoroughly awake, she sat 
up in bed and thought to herself: ‘‘ I would not 
dream more. Now I want to remain awake 
all night, that I may escape seeing more of this 
horror.” 

But almost the very moment she thought this, 
sleep had overtaken her anew, and she had 
laid her head on the pillow and fallen asleep. 

Again she dreamed that she sat on the roof 
of her house, and her little son ran back and 
forth up there, and played with a ball. 

Then she heard a voice that said to her: 
‘““Go over to the balustrade, which incloses 
the roof, and see who they are that stand and 
wait in your court!’’ But she who dreamed 
said to herself: ‘“‘ I have seen enough misery this 
night. I can not endure any more. I would 
remain where I am.’ 

At that moment her son rhe his ball so 
that it dropped outside the balustrade, and the 
child ran forward and clambered up on the rail- 
ing. [hen she was frightened. She rushed 
over and seized hold of the child. 


172 CHRIST LEGENDS 


But with that she happened to cast her eyes 
downward, and once more she saw that the 
court was full of people. 

In the court were all the peoples of earth who 
had been wounded in battle. They came with 
severed bodies, with cut-off limbs, and with big 
open wounds from which the blood oozed, so 
that the whole court was drenched with it. 

And beside these, came all the people in the 
world who had lost their loved ones on the 
battlefield. They were the fatherless who 
mourned their protectors, and the young maidens 
who cried for their lovers, and the aged who 
sighed for their sons. 

The foremost among them pushed against 
the door, and the watchman came out as before, 
and opened it. 

He asked all these, who had been wounded in 
battles and skirmishes: ‘“‘ What seek ye in this 
house?” 

And they answered: ‘‘ We seek the great 
Prophet of Nazareth, who shall prohibit wars 
and rumors of wars and bring peace to the 
earth. We seek him who shall convert spears 
into scythes and swords into pruning hooks.” 

Then answered the slave somewhat impa- 
tiently: ‘‘ Let no more come to pester me! I 
have already said it often enough. The great 
Prophet is not here. Pilate has killed him.” 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 173 


Thereupon he closed the gate. But she who 
dreamed thought of all the lamentation which 
would come now. ‘I do not wish to hear it,” 
said she, and rushed away from the balustrade. 
That instant she awoke. Then she discovered 
that in her terror she had jumped out of her 
bed and down on the cold stone floor. 

Again she thought she did not want to sleep 
more that night, and again sleep overpowered 
her, and she closed her eyes and began to dream. 

She sat once more on the roof of her house, 
and beside her stood her husband. She told 
him of her dreams, and he ridiculed her. 

Again she heard a voice, which said to her: 
‘“ Go see the people who wait in your court! ” 

But she thought: “I would not see them. I 
have seen enough misery to-night.” 

Just then she heard three loud raps on the 
gate, and her husband walked over to the balus- 
trade to see who it was that asked admittance 
to his house. 

But no sooner had he leaned over the railing, 
than he beckoned to his wife to come over to 
him. 

“Know you not this man?” said he, and 
pointed down. 

When she looked down on the court, she 
found that it was filled with horses and riders. 
slaves were busy unloading asses and camels. 


174 CHRIST LEGENDS 


It looked as though a distinguished traveler 
might have landed. 

At the entrance gate stood the traveler. He 
was a large elderly man with broad shoulders 
and a heavy and gloomy appearance. 

The dreamer recognized the stranger in- 
stantly, and whispered to her husband: “ It is 
Cesar Tiberius, who is here in Jerusalem. It 
can not be any one else.” 

“‘ T also seem to recognize him,” said her ge 
band; at the same time he placed his finger on 
his mouth, as a signal that they should be quiet 
and listen to what was said down in the court. 

They saw that the doorkeeper came out and 
asked the stranger: ‘‘ Whom seek you?” 

And the traveler answered: “ I seek the great 
Prophet of Nazareth, who is endowed with 
God’s power to perform miracles. It is Em- 
peror Tiberius who calls him, that he may lib- 
erate him from a terrible disease, which no 
other physician can cure.” 

When he had spoken, the slave bowed very 
humbly and said: ‘“‘ My lord, be not wroth! but 
your wish can not be fulfilled.” 

Then the Emperor turned toward his slaves, 
who waited below in the court, and gave them 
a command. 

Then the slaves hastened forward—some 
with handfuls of ornaments, others carried gob- 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 175 


lets studded with pearls, other again dragged 
sacks filled with gold coin. 

The Emperor turned to the slave who 
guarded the gate, and said: “ All this shall 
be his, if he helps Tiberius. With this he can 
give riches to all the world’s poor.” 

But the doorkeeper bowed still lower and 
said: ‘‘ Master, be not wroth with thy servant, 
but thy request can not be fulfilled.” 

Then the Emperor beckoned again to his 
slaves, and a pair of them hurried forward with 
a richly embroidered robe, upon which glittered 
a breastpiece of jewels. 

And the Emperor said to the slave: “ See! 
This which I offer him is the power over Judea. 
He shall rule his people like the highest judge, 
if he will only come and heal Tiberius! ” 

The slave bowed still nearer the earth, and 
said: ‘‘ Master, it is not within my power to 
help you.” 

Then the Emperor beckoned once again, and 
his slaves rushed up with a golden coronet and 
a purple mantle. 

“ See,”’ he said, ‘‘ this is the Emperor’s will: 
He promises to appoint the Prophet his suc- 
cessor, and give him dominion over the world. 
He shall have power to rule the world accord- 
ing to his God’s will, if he will only stretch forth 
his hand and heal Tiberius! ” 


176 CHRIST LEGENDS 


Then the slave fell at the Emperor’s feet and 
said in an imploring tone: ‘‘ Master, it does 
not lie in my power to attend to thy command. 
He whom thou seekest is no longer here. Pilate 


hath killed him.” 


Vit 


When the young woman awoke, it was al- 
ready full, clear day, and her female slaves stood 
and waited that they might help her dress. 

She was very silent while she dressed, but 
finally she asked the slave who arranged her 
hair, if her husband was up. She learned that 
he had been called out to pass judgment on a 
criminal. ‘I should have liked to talk with 
him,” said the young woman. 

‘“‘ Mistress,’’ said the slave, “it will be diff- 
cult to do so during the trial. We will let you 
know as soon as it is over.” 

She sat silent now until her toilet was com- 
pleted. ‘Then she asked: ‘‘ Has any among you 
heard of the Prophet of Nazareth?” 

‘The Prophet of Nazareth is a Jewish mira- 
cle performer,” answered one of the slaves 
instantly. 

“Tt is strange, Mistress, that you should ask 
after him to-day,” said another slave. ‘“‘ It is 
just he whom the Jews have brought here 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 177 


to the palace, to let him be tried by the 
Governor.” 

She bade them go at once and ascertain for 
what cause he was arraigned, and one of the 
slaves withdrew. When she returned she said: 
‘They accuse him of wanting to make himself 
King over this land, and they entreat the Gov- 
ernor to let him be crucified.” 

When the Governor’s wife heard this, she 
grew terrified and said: ‘“‘ I must speak with my 
husband, otherwise a terrible calamity will hap- 
pen here this day.” 

When the slaves said once again that this 
was impossible, she began to weep and shudder. 
And one among them was touched, so she said: 
“If you will send a written message to the 
Governor, I will try and take it to him.” 

Immediately she took a stylus and wrote a 
few words on a wax tablet, and this was given to 
Pilate. 

But him she did not meet alone the whole 
day; for when he had dismissed the Jews, and 
the condemned man was taken to the place of 
execution, the hour for repast was come, and to 
this Pilate had invited a few of the Romans 
who visited Jerusalem at this season. They 
were the commander of the troops and a 
young instructor in oratory, and several others 
besides. 


178 CHRIST LEGENDS 


This repast was not very gay, for the Gov- 
ernor’s wife sat all the while silent and dejected, 
. and took no part in the conversation. 

When the guests asked if she was ill or dis- 
traught, the Governor laughingly related about 
the message she had sent him in the morning. 
He chaffed her because she had believed that 
a Roman governor would let himself be guided 
in his judgments by a woman’s dreams. 

She answered gently and sadly: “In truth, 
it was no dream, but a warning sent by the 
gods. You should at least have let the man 
live through this one day.” 

They saw that she was seriously distressed. 
She would not be comforted, no matter how 
much the guests exerted themselves, by keeping 
up the conversation to make her forget these 
empty fancies. 

But after a while one of them raised his head 
and exclaimed: “* What is this? Have we sat so 
long at table that the day is already gone?” 

All looked up now, and they observed that 
a dim twilight settled down over nature. Above 
all, it was remarkable to see how the whole 
variegated play of color which it spread over 
all creatures and objects, faded away slowly, 
so that all looked a uniform gray. 

Like everything else, even their own faces 
lost their color. ‘‘ We actually look like the 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 179 


dead,” said the young orator with a shudder. 
“Our cheeks are gray and our lips black.” 

As this darkness grew more intense, the 
woman’s fear increased. ‘‘ Oh, my friend! ” she 
burst out at last. ‘‘ Can’t you perceive even 
now that the Immortals would warn you? They 
are incensed because you condemned a holy and 
innocent man. I am thinking that although he 
may already be on the cross, he is surely not 
dead yet. Let him be taken down from the 
cross! I would with mine own hands nurse his 
wounds. Only grant that he be called back 
toate |? 

But Pilate answered laughingly: “‘ You are 
surely right in that this is a sign from the gods. 
But they do not let the sun lose its luster because 
a Jewish heretic has been condemned to the 
cross. On the contrary, we may expect that 
important matters shall appear, which concern 
the whole kingdom. Who can tell how long 
old Tiberius——”’ 

He did not finish the sentence, for the dark- 
ness had become so profound he could not see 
even the wine goblet standing in front of him. 
He broke off, therefore, to order the slaves to 
fetch some lamps instantly. 

When it had become so light that he could 
see the faces of his guests, it was impossible for 
him not to notice the depression which had 


180 CHRIST LEGENDS 


come over them. ‘“ Mark you!” he said half- 
angrily to his wife. ‘‘ Now it is apparent to me 
that you have succeeded with your dreams in 
driving away the joys of the table. But if it 
must needs be that you can not think of anything 
else to-day, then let us hear what you have 
dreamed. Tell it us and we will try to inter- 
pret its meaning!” 

For this the young wife was ready at once. 
And while she related vision after vision, the 
guests grew more and more serious. ‘They 
ceased emptying their goblets, and they sat with 
brows knit. The only one who continued to 
laugh and to call the whole thing madness, was 
the Governor himself. 

When the narrative was ended, the young 
rhetorician said: ‘‘ Truly, this is something more 
than a dream, for I have seen this day not 
the Emperor, but his old friend Faustina, 
march into the city. Only it surprises me that 
she has not already appeared in the Governor’s 
palace.” 

‘There is actually a rumor abroad to the 
effect that the Emperor has been stricken with 
a terrible illness,’ observed the leader of the 
troops. ‘‘ It also seems very possible to me that 
your wife’s dream may be a god-sent warning.” 

‘““There’s nothing incredible in this, that 
Tiberius has sent messengers after the Prophet 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 181 


to summon him to his sick-bed,” agreed the 
young rhetorician. 

The Commander turned with profound seri- 
ousness toward Pilate. ‘‘ If the Emperor has 
actually taken it into his head to let this miracle- 
worker be summoned, it were better for you 
and for all of us that he found him alive.” 

Pilate answered irritably: ‘‘ Is it the darkness 
that has turned you into children? One would 
think that you had all been transformed into 
dream-interpreters and prophets.” 

But the courtier continued his argument: “‘ It 
may not be impossible, perhaps, to save the 
man’s life, if you sent a swift messenger.” 

‘You want to make a laughing-stock of me,”’ 
answered the Governor. ‘‘ Tell me, what would 
become of law and order in this land, if they 
learned that the Governor pardoned a criminal 
because his wife has dreamed a bad dream? ” 

‘Tt is the truth, however, and not a dream, 
that I have seen Faustina in Jerusalem,” said 
the young orator. 

‘““T shall take the responsibility of defending 
my actions before the Emperor,”’ said Pilate. 
“He will understand that this visionary, who 
let himself be misused by my soldiers without 
resistance, would not have had the power to 
help him.” 

As he was speaking, the house was shaken 


182 CHRIST LEGENDS 


by a noise like a powerful rolling thunder, and 
an earthquake shook the ground. The Goy- 
ernor’s palace stood intact, but during some 
minutes just after the earthquake, a terrific crash 
of crumbling houses and falling pillars was 
heard. 

As, soon as a human voice could make itself 
heard, the Governor called a slave. 

‘“‘ Run out to the place of execution and com- 
mand in my name that the Prophet of Nazareth 
shall be taken down from the cross! ”’ 

The slave hurried away. ‘The guests filed 
from the dining-hall out on the peristyle, to be 
under the open sky in case the earthquake should 
be repeated. No one dared to utter a word, 
while they awaited the slave’s return. 

He came back very shortly. He stopped be- 
fore the Governor. 

“You found him alive?” said he. 

‘“‘ Master, he was dead, and on the very sec- 
ond that he gave up the ghost, the earthquake 
occurred.” 

The words were hardly spoken when two loud 
knocks sounded against the outer gate. When 
these knocks were heard, they all staggered back 
and leaped up, as though it had been a new 
earthquake. 

Immediately afterwards a slave came up. 

“It is the noble Faustina and the Emperor’s 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 183 


kinsman Sulpicius. They are come to beg you 
help them find the Prophet from Nazareth.” 

A low murmur passed through the peristyle, 
and soft footfalls were heard. When the Gov- 
ernor looked around, he noticed that his friends 
had withdrawn from him, as from one upon 
whom misfortune has fallen. 


IX 


Old Faustina had returned to Capri and had 
sought out the Emperor. She told him her 
story, and while she spoke she hardly dared look 
at him. During her absence the illness had 
made frightful ravages, and she thought to 
herself: “If there had been any pity among 
the Celestials, they would have let me die be- 
fore being forced to tell this poor, tortured man 
that all hope is gone.” 

To her astonishment, Tiberius listened to her 
with the utmost indifference. When she related 
how the great miracle performer had been cruci- 
fied the same day that she had arrived in Jeru- 
salem, and how near she had been to saving 
him, she began to weep under the weight of 
her failure. But Tiberius only remarked: “‘ You 
actually grieve over this? Ah, Faustina! A 
whole lifetime in Rome has not weaned you 
then of faith in sorcerers and miracle workers, 


184 CHRIST LEGENDS 


which you imbibed during your childhood in 
the Sabine mountains! ” 

Then the old woman perceived that Tiberius 
had never expected any help oe the Prophet 
of Nazareth. 

‘Why did you let me make the journey to 
that distant land, if you believed all the while 
that it was useless?” 

‘You are the only friend I have,” said the 
Emperor. ‘‘ Why should I deny your prayer, 
so long as I still have the power to grant it.” 

But the old woman did not like it that the 
Emperor had taken her for a fool. 

‘Ah! this is your usual cunning,” she burst 
out. “This is just what I can tolerate least 
in you.” : 

‘* You should not have come back to me,”’ said 
Tiberius. ‘‘ You should have remained in the 
mountains.” 

It looked for a moment as if these two, who 
had clashed so often, would again fall into a 
war of words, but the old woman’s anger sub- 
sided immediately. The times were past when 
she could quarrel in earnest with the Emperor. 
She lowered her voice again; but she could not 
altogether relinquish every effort to obtain 
justice. 

“But this man was really a prophet,” she 
said. ‘I have seen him. When his eyes met 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 185 


mine, I thought he was a god. I was mad to 
allow him to go to his death.” 

‘““T am glad you let him die,”’ said Tiberius. 
‘“‘ He was a traitor and a dangerous agitator.” 

Faustina was about to burst into another 
passion—then checked herself. 

‘““T have spoken with many of his friends in 


Jerusalem about him,” said she. ‘He had 
not committed the crimes for which he was 
arraigned.” 


“Even if he had not committed just these 
crimes, he was surely no better than any one 
else,” said the Emperor wearily. ‘ Where will 
you find the person who during his lifetime has 
not a thousand times deserved death? ”’ 

But these remarks of the Emperor decided 
Faustina to undertake something which she had 
until now hesitated about. “I will show you 
a proof of his power,” said she. “I said to 
you just now that I laid my kerchief over 
his’ face: It ‘is’ the. same- kerchief which 1 
hold in my hand. Will-you look at it a 
moment?” 

She spread the kerchief out before the Em- 
peror, and he saw delineated thereon the shad- 
owy likeness of a human face. 

The old woman’s voice shook with emotion 
as she continued: ‘‘ This man saw that I loved 
him. I know not by what power he was en- 


186 CHRIST LEGENDS 


abled to leave me his portrait. But mine eyes 
fill up with tears when I see it.” 

The Emperor leaned forward and regarded 
the picture, which appeared to be made up of 
blood and tears and the dark shadows of grief. 
Gradually the whole face stood out before him, 
exactly as it had been imprinted upon the ker- 
chief. He saw the blood-drops on the forehead, 
the piercing thorn-crown, the hair, which was 
matted with blood, and the mouth whose lips 
seemed to quiver with agony. 

He bent down closer and closer to the pic- 
ture. The face stood out clearer and clearer. 
From out the shadow-like outlines, all at once, 
he saw the eyes sparkle as with hidden life. 
And while they spoke to him of the most terri- 
ble suffering, they also revealed a purity and 
sublimity which he had never seen before. 

He lay upon his couch and drank in the pic- 
ture with his eyes. ‘‘ Is this a mortal?” he said 
softly and slowly. ‘Is this a mortal? ”’ 

Again he lay still and regarded the picture. 
The tears began to stream down his cheeks. “I 
mourn over thy death, thou Unknown!”’ he 
whispered. 

‘“‘ Faustina!’ he cried out at last. ‘‘ Why 
did you let this man die? He would have healed 
me.” 

And again he was lost in the picture. 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 187 


“OQ Man!” he said, after a moment, “if I 
can not gain my health from thee, I can still 
avenge thy murder. My hand shall rest heavily 
upon those who have robbed me of thee!” 

Again he lay still a long time; then he let 
himself glide down to the floor—and he knelt 
before the picture: 

“Thou art Man!” said he. ‘ Thou art that 
which I never dreamed I should see.’’ And he 
pointed to his disfigured face and destroyed 
hands. ‘I and all others are wild beasts and 
monsters, but thou art Man.” 

He bowed his head so low before the picture 
that it touched the floor. ‘ Have pity on me, 
thou Unknown!” he sobbed, and his tears 
watered the stones. 

“If thou nadst lived, thy glance alone would 
have healed me,”’ he said. 

The poor old woman was terror-stricken over 
what she had done. It would have been wiser 
not to show the Emperor the picture, thought 
she. From the start she had been afraid that 
if he should see it his grief would be too over- 
whelming. 

And in her despair over the Emperor’s grief, 
she snatched the picture away, as if to remove 
it from his sight. 

Then the Emperor looked up. And, lo! his 
features were transformed, and he was as he 


188 CHRIST LEGENDS 


had been before the illness. It was as if the 
illness had had its root and sustenance in the 
contempt and hatred of mankind which had 
lived in his heart; and it had been forced to 
flee the very moment he had felt love and 
compassion. 

The following day Tiberius despatched three 
messengers. ; 

The first messenger traveled to Rome with 
the command that the Senate should institute 
investigations as to how the governor of Pales- 
tine administered his official duties and punish 
him, should it appear that he oppressed the 
people and condemned the innocent to death. 

The second messenger went to the vineyard- 
laborer and his wife, to thank them and reward 
them for the counsel they had given the Em- 
peror, and also to tell them how everything 
had turned out. When they had heard all, they 
wept silently, and the man said: ‘“ I know that 
all my life I shall ponder what would have hap- 
pened if these two had met.” But the woman 
answered: “‘ It could not happen in any other 
way. It was too great a thought that these 
two should meet. God knew that the world 
could not support it.” 

The third messenger traveled to Palestine and 
brought back with him to Capri some of Jesus’ 
disciples, and these began to teach there the 


SAINT VERONICA’S KERCHIEF 189 


doctrine that had been preached by the Crucified 
One. 

When the disciples landed at Capri, old Faus- 
tina lay upon her death-bed. Still they had time 
before her death to make of her a follower 
of the great Prophet, and to baptize her. And 
in the baptism she was called VERONICA, because 
to her it had been granted to give to mankind 
the true likeness of their Saviour. 





ROBIN R&EDBREAST 








ROBIN REDBREAST 


T happened at the time when our Lord 
created the world, when He not only made 
heaven and earth, but all the animals and the 
plants as well, at the same time giving them 
their names. 

There have been many histories concerning 
that time, and if we knew them all, we should 
have light upon everything in this world which 
we can not now comprehend. 

At that time it happened one day when our 
Lord sat in His Paradise and painted the kttle 
birds, that the colors in our Lord’s paint pot 
gave out, and the goldfinch would have been 
without color if our Lord had not wiped all 
His paint brushes on its feathers. 

It was then that the donkey got his long 
ears, because he could not remember the name 
that had been given him. 

No sooner had he taken a few steps over 
the meadows of Paradise than he forgot, and 
three times he came back to ask his name. At 
last our Lord grew somewhat impatient, took 
him by his two ears, and said: 

193 


194 CHRIST LEGENDS 


‘Thy name is ass, ass, ass!”? And while 
He thus spake our Lord pulled both of his 
ears that the ass might hear better, and remem- 
ber what was said to him. It was on the same 
day, also, that the bee was punished. 

Now, when the bee was created, she began 
immediately to gather honey, and the animals 
and human beings who caught the delicious odor 
of the honey came and wanted to taste of it. 
But the bee wanted to keep it all for herself and 
with her poisonous sting pursued every living 
creature that approached her hive. Our Lord 
saw this and at once called the bee to Him and 
punished her. 

‘““T gave thee the gift of gathering honey, 
which is the sweetest thing in all creation,” said 
our Lord, “but I did not give thee the right 
to be cruel to thy neighbor. Remember well 
that every time thou stingest any creature who 
desires to taste of thy honey, thou shalt surely 
die!” 

Ah, yes! It was at that time, too, that the 
cricket became blind and the ant missed her 
wings, so many strange things happened on that 
day! 

Our Lord sat there, big and gentle, and 
planned and created all day long, and towards 
evening He conceived the idea of making a 
little gray bird. ‘‘ Remember your name is 


ROBIN REDBREAST 195 


Robin Redbreast,’”’ said our Lord to the bird, 
as soon as it was finished. Then He held it 
in the palm of His open hand and let it fly. _ 

After the bird had been testing his wings 
a while, and had seen something of the beau- 
tiful world in which he was destined to live, 
he became curious to see what he himself was 
like. He noticed that he was entirely gray, 
and that his breast was just as gray as all the 
rest of him. Robin~ Redbreast twisted and 
turned in all directions as he viewed himself 
in the mirror of a clear lake, but he couldn’t 
find a single red feather. Then he flew back 
to our Lord. 

Our Lord sat there on His throne, big and 
gentle. Out of His hands came butterflies that 
fluttered about His head; doves cooed on His 
shoulders; and out of the earth beneath Him 
grew the rose, the lily, and the daisy. 

The little bird’s heart beat heavily with 
fright, but with easy curves he flew nearer and 
nearer our Lord, till at last he rested on our 
Lord’s hand. Then our Lord asked what the 
little bird wanted. ‘I only wish to ask you 
about one thing,” said the little bird. ‘‘ What is 
it you wish to know?”’ said our Lord. ‘‘ Why 
should I be called Red Breast, when I am all 
gray, from the bill to the very end of my 
tail? Why am I called Red Breast when I do 


196 CHRIST LEGENDS 


not possess one single red feather?”’ The bird 
looked beseechingly on our Lord with his tiny 
black eyes—then turned his head. About him 
he saw pheasants all red under a sprinkle of 
gold dust, parrots with marvelous red _neck- 
bands, cocks with red combs, to say nothing 
about the butterflies, the goldfinches, and the 
roses! And naturally he thought how little 
he needed—just one tiny drop of color on his 
breast and he, too, would be a beautiful bird, 
and his name would fit him. ‘“‘ Why should I 
be called Red Breast when I am so entirely 
gray?’ asked the bird once again, and waited 
for our Lord to say: ‘‘ Ah, my friend, I see that 
I have forgotten to paint your breast feathers 
red, but wait a moment and it shall be done.” 

But our Lord only smiled a little and said: 
‘* T have called you Robin Redbreast, and Robin 
Redbreast shall your name be, but you must 
look to it that you yourself earn your red breast 
feathers.’ Then our Lord lifted His hand 
and let the bird fly once more—out into the 
world. 

The bird flew down into Paradise, meditating 
deeply. 

What could a little bird like him do to earn 
for himself red feathers? The only thing he 
could think of was to make his nest in a brier 
bush. He built it in among the thorns in the 


ROBIN REDBREAST 197 


close thicket. It looked as if he waited for 
a rose leaf to cling to his throat and give him 
color. 


Countless years had come and gone since that 
day, which was the happiest in all the world! 
Human beings had already advanced so far 
that they had learned to cultivate the earth 
and sail the seas. They had procured clothes 
and ornaments for themselves, and had long 
since learned to build big temples and great 
cities—such as Thebes, Rome, and Jerusalem. 


Then there dawned a new day, one that will 
long be remembered in the world’s history. On 
the morning of this day Robin Redbreast sat 
upon a little naked hillock outside of Jerusalem’s 
walls, and sang to his young ones, who rested 
in a tiny nest in a brier bush. 

Robin Redbreast told the little ones all about 
that wonderful day of creation, and how the 
Lord had given names to everything, just as 
each Redbreast had told it ever since the first 
Redbreast had heard God’s word, and gone out 
of God’s hand. ‘‘ And mark you,” he ended 
sorrowfully, ‘“‘so many years have gone, so 
many roses have bloomed, so many little birds 
have come out of their eggs since Creation Day, 
but Robin Redbreast is still a little gray bird. 


198 CHRIST LEGENDS 


He has not yet succeeded in gaining his red 
feathers.” 

The little young ones opened wide their tiny 
bills, and asked if their forbears had never 
tried to do any great thing to earn the priceless 
red color. 

‘“We have all done what we could,” said 
the little bird, “‘ but we have all gone amiss. 
Even the first Robin Redbreast met one day 
another bird exactly like himself, and he began 
immediately to love it with such a mighty love 
that he could feel his breast burn. ‘Ah!’ he 
thought then, ‘now I understand! It was our 
Lord’s meaning that I should love with so 
much ardor that my breast should grow red in 
color from the very warmth of the love that 
lives in my heart.’ But he missed it, as all those 
who came after him have missed it, and as 
even you shall miss it.” 

The little young ones twittered, utterly bewil- 
dered, and already began to mourn because the 
red color would not come to beautify their little, 
downy gray breasts. 

‘We had also hoped that song would help 
us,” said the grown-up bird, speaking in long- 
drawn-out tones—‘ the first Robin Redbreast 
sang until his heart swelled within him, he was 
so carried away, and he dared to hope anew. 
‘Ah!’ he thought, ‘ it is the glow of the song 


ROBIN REDBREAST 199 


which lives in my soul that will color my breast 
feathers red.’ But he missed it, as all the others 
have missed it and as even you shall miss it.’’ 
Again was heard a sad “‘ peep ” from the young 
ones’ half-naked throats. 

‘We had also counted on our courage and 
our valor,” said the bird. ‘‘ The first Robin 
Redbreast fought bravely with other birds, until 
his breast flamed with the pride of conquest. 
‘Ah!’ he thought, ‘my breast feathers shall 
become red from the love of battle which burns 
in my heart.’ He, too, missed it, as all those 
who came after him have missed it, and as even 
you shall miss it.” Therlittle young ones peeped 
courageously that they still wished to try and 
win the much-sought-for prize, but the bird 
answered them sorrowfully that it would be im- 
possible. What could they do when so many 
splendid ancestors had missed the mark? What 
could they do more than love, sing, and fight? 
What could—the little bird stopped short, for 
out of one of the gates of Jerusalem came a 
crowd of people marching, and the whole pro- 
cession rushed toward the hillock, where the 
bird had its nest. There were riders on proud 
horses, soldiers with long spears, - executioners 
with nails and hammers. There were judges 
and priests in the procession, weeping women, 
and above all a mob of mad, loose people 


200 CHRIST LEGENDS 


running about —a filthy, howling mob of 
loiterers. 

The little gray bird sat trembling on the 
edge of his nest. He feared each instant that 
the little brier bush would be trampled down 
and his young ones killed! 

“Be careful!’ he cried to the little defense- 
less young ones, ‘“‘creep together and remain 
quiet. Here comes a horse that will ride right 
over us! Here comes a warrior with iron-shod 
sandals! Here comes the whole wild, storming 
mob!” Immediately the bird ceased his cry 
of warning and grew calm and quiet. He al- 
most forgot the danger hovering over him. 
Finally he hopped down into the nest and spread 
his wings over the young ones. 

‘“ Oh! this is too terrible,” said he. ‘‘ I don’t 
wish you to witness this awful sight! ‘There 
are three miscreants who are going to be cruci- 
fied!” And he spread his wings so that the 
little ones could see nothing. 

They caught only the sound of hammers, the 
cries of anguish, and the wild shrieks of the 
mob. 

Robin Redbreast followed the whole spectacle 
with his eyes, which grew big with terror. He 
could not take his glance from the three 
unfortunates. 

“ How terrible human beings are!” said the 


ROBIN REDBREAST 201 


bird after a little while. ‘“‘ It isn’t enough that 
they nail these poor creatures to a cross, but 
they must needs place a crown of piercing thorns 
upon the head of one of them. I see that the 
thorns have wounded his brow so that the blood 
flows,” he continued. ‘‘ And this man is so 
beautiful, and looks about him with such mild 
glances that every one ought to love him. I 
feel as if an arrow were shooting through my 
heart, when I see him suffer! ” 

The little bird began to feel a stronger and 
stronger pity for the thorn-crowned sufferer. 
“Oh! if I were only my brother the eagle,” 
thought he, ‘I would draw the nails from his 
hands, and with my strong claws I would drive 
away all those who torture him!’ He saw 
how the blood trickled down from the brow of 
the Crucified One, and he could no longer re- 
main quiet in his nest. ‘“‘ Even if I am little 
and weak, I can still do something for this 
poor tortured one,” thought the bird. Then he 
left his nest and flew out into the air, striking 
wide circles around the Crucified One. He flew 
around him several times without daring to 
approach, for he was a shy little bird, who had 
never dared to go near a human being. But 
little by little he gained courage, flew close to 
him, and drew with his little bill a thorn that 
had become imbedded in the brow of the Cruci- 


202 CHRIST LEGENDS 


fied One. And as he did this there fell on his 
breast a drop of blood from the face of the 
Crucified One;—it spread quickly and floated 
out and colored all the little fine breast feathers. 

Then the Crucified One opened his lips and 
whispered to the bird: “ Because of thy com- 
passion, thou hast won all that thy kind have 
been striving after, ever since the world was 
created.” 

As soon as the bird had returned to his nest 
his young ones cried to him: “ Thy breast is 
red! Thy breast feathers are redder than the 
roses! ”” 

“Tt is only a drop of blood from the poor 
man’s forehead,” said the bird; ‘‘ it will- vanish 
as soon as I bathe in a pool or a clear well.” 

But no matter how much the little bird 
bathed, the red color did not vanish—and when 
his little young ones grew up, the blood-red 
color shone also on their breast feathers, just 
as it shines on every Robin Redbreast’s throat 
and breast until this very day. 


OVR° LORD 
AND SAINT: PETER 








OUR LORD AND SAINT PETER 


T happened at the time when our Lord and 

Saint Peter were newly arrived in Paradise, 

after having wandered on earth and suffered 
hardships during many sorrowful years. 

One can imagine that the change was a joy 
to Saint Peter! One can picture to oneself that 
it was quite another matter to sit upon Para- 
dise Mountain and look out over the world, in- 
stead of wandering from door to door, like a 
beggar. It was another matter to walk about 
in the beautiful gardens of Paradise, instead of 
roaming around on earth, not knowing if one 
would be given house-room on a stormy night, 
or if one would be forced to tramp the highway 
in the chill and darkness. 

One can imagine what a joy it must have 
been to get to the right place at last after such 
a journey. Saint Peter, to be sure, had not 
always been certain that all would end well. 
He couldn’t very well help feeling doubtful and 
troubled at times, for it had been almost impos- 
sible for poor Saint Peter to understand why 
there was ‘any earthly need for them to have 

205 


206 CHRIST LEGENDS 


such a hard time of it, if our Lord was lord of 
all the world. 

Now, no yearning could come to torment 
him any more. That he was glad of this one 
can well believe. 

Now, he could actually laugh at all the mis- 
ery which he and our Lord had been forced to 
endure, and at the little that they had been 
obliged to content themselves with. 

Once, when things had turned out so badly 
for them that Saint Peter thought he couldn’t 
stand it any longer, our Lord had taken him 
to a high mountain, and had begun the ascent 
without telling him what they were there for. 

They had wandered past the cities at the 
foot of the mountain, and the castles higher 
up. They had gone past the farms and cabins, 
and had left behind them the last wood-chop- 
per’s cave. 

They had come at last to the part where the 
mountain stood naked, without verdure and 
trees, and where a hermit had built him a hut, 
wherein he might shelter needy travelers. 

Afterward, they had walked over the snow- 
fields, where the mountain-rats sleep, and come 
to the piled-up ice masses, which stood on edge 
and a-tilt, and where scarcely a chamois could 
pass. 


Up there our Lord had found a little red- 


OUR LORD AND SAINT PETER 207 


breasted bird, that lay frozen to death on the 
ice, and He had picked up the bullfinch and 
tucked it in His bosom. And Saint Peter re- 
membered he had wondered if this was to be 
their dinner. 

They had wandered a long while on the slip- 
pery ice-blocks, and it had seemed to Saint 
Peter that he had never been so near perdition; 
for a deadly cold wind and a deadly dark mist 
enveloped them, and as far as he could dis- 
cover, there wasn’t a living thing to be found. 
And, still, they were only half-way up the 
mountain. 

Then he begged our Lord to let him turn 
back. 

“Not yet,” said our Lord, “ for I want to 
show you something which will give you cour- 
age to meet all sorrows.” 

For this they had gone on through mist and 
cold until they had reached an interminably 
high wall, which prevented them from going 
farther. 

“This wall extends all around the moun- 
tain,’ said our Lord, ‘‘ and you can’t step over 
it at any point. Nor can any living creature see 
anything of that which lies behind it, for it is 
here that Paradise begins; and all the way up 
to the mountain’s summit live the blessed 


dead.” 


208 CHRIST LEGENDS 


But Saint Peter couldn’t help looking doubt- 
ful. ‘‘In there is neither darkness nor cold,” 
said our Lord, “ but there it is always summer, 
with the bright light of suns and stars.” 

But Saint Peter was not able to persuade him- 
self to believe this. 

Then our Lord took the little bird which He 
had just found on the ice, and, bending back- 
wards, threw it over the wall, so that it fell 
down into Paradise. 

And immediately thereafter Saint Peter 
heard a loud, joyous trill, and recognized a bull- 
finch’s song, and was greatly astonished. 

He turned toward our Lord and said: “ Let 
us return to the earth and suffer all that must 
be suffered, for now I see that you speak the 
truth, and that there is a place where Life over- 
comes death.” 

And they descended from the mountain and 
began their wanderings again. 

And it was years before Saint Peter saw any 
more than this one glimpse of Paradise; but 
he had always longed for the land beyond the 
wall. And now at last he was there, and did 
not have to strive and yearn any more. Now 
he could drink bliss in full measure all day long 
from never-dying streams. 

But Saint Peter had not been in Paradise a 
fortnight before it happened that an angel 


OUR LORD AND SAINT PETER 209 


came to our Lord where He sat upon His 
throne, bowed seven times before Him, and 
told Him that a great sorrow must have come 
upon Saint Peter. He would neither eat nor 
drink, and his eyelids were red, as though he 
had not slept for several nights. 

As soon as our Lord heard this, He rose and 
went to seek Saint Peter. 

He found him far away, on one of the out- 
skirts of Paradise, where he lay upon the 
ground, as if he were too exhausted to stand, 
and he had rent his garments and strewn his 
hair with ashes. 

When our Lord saw him so distressed, He 
sat down on the ground beside him, and talked 
to him, just as He would have done had they 
still been wandering around in this world of 
trouble. 

“What is it that makes you so sad, Saint 
Peter?” said our Lord. 

But grief had overpowered Saint Peter, so 
that he could not answer. 

‘What is it that makes you so sad?’ asked 
our Lord once again. 

When our Lord repeated the question, Saint 
Peter took the gold crown from his head and 
threw it at our Lord’s feet, as much as to say 
he wanted no further share in His honor and 


glory. 


210 CHRIST LEGENDS 


But our Lord understood, of course, that 
Saint Peter was so disconsolate that he knew not 
what he did. He showed no anger at him. 

‘You must tell me what troubles you,” said 
He, just as gently as before, and with an even 
greater love in His voice. 

But now Saint Peter jumped up; and then 
our Lord knew that he was not only discon- 
solate, but downright angry. He came toward 
our Lord with clenched fists and snapping eyes. 

‘“Now I want a dismissal from your serv- 
ice!’ said Saint Peter. ‘‘I can not remain 
another day in Paradise.” 

Our Lord tried to calm him, just as He had 
been obliged to do many times before, when 
Saint Peter had flared up. 

‘Oh, certainly you can go,” said He, “ but 
you must first tell me what it is that displeases 
you.” 

“T can tell you that I awaited a better re- 
ward than this when we two endured all sorts 
of misery down on earth,” said Saint Peter. 

Our Lord saw that Saint Peter’s soul was 
filled with bitterness, and He felt no anger at 
him. | 

“‘T tell you that you are free to go whither 
you will,” said He, “if you will only let me 
know what is troubling you.” 

Then, at last, Saint Peter told our Lord why 


OUR LORD AND SAINT PETER 2it 


he was so unhappy. ‘I had an old mother,” 
said he, ‘‘ and sht died a few days ago.” 

‘“* Now I know what distresses you,” said our 
Lord. ‘‘ You suffer because your mother has 
not come into Paradise.” 

‘“* That is true,” said Saint Peter, and at the 
same time his grief became so overwhelming 
that he began to sob and moan. 

‘“‘T think I deserved at least that she should 
be permitted to come here,”’ said he. 

- But when our Lord learned what it was that 
Saint Peter was grieving over, He, in turn, be- 
came distressed. Saint Peter’s mother had not 
been such that she could enter the Heavenly 
Kingdom. She had never thought of anything 
except to hoard money, and to the poor who 
had knocked at her door she had never given 
so much as a copper or a crust of bread. But 
our Lord understood that it was impossible for 
Saint Peter to grasp the fact that his mother 
had been so greedy that she was not entitled 
to bliss. 

Saint Peter,” said He, “how can you be 
so sure that your mother would feel at home 
here with us?” 

‘You say such things only that you may not 
have to listen to my prayers,” said Saint Peter. 
“Who wouldn’t be happy in Paradise? ” 

“One who does not feel joy over the happi- 


212 CHRIST LEGENDS 


ness of others can not rest content here,”’ said 
our Lord. 

‘Then there are others than my mother who 
do not belong here,” said Saint Peter, and our 
Lord observed that he was thinking of Him. 

And He felt deeply grieved because Saint 
Peter had been stricken with such a heavy sor- 
row that he no longer knew what he said. He 
stood a moment and expected that Saint Peter 
would repent, and understand that his mother 
was not fit for Paradise. But the Saint would 
not give in. 

Then our Lord called an angel and com- 
manded that he should fly down into hell and 
bring Saint Peter’s mother to Paradise. 

‘“* Let me see how he carries her,”’ said Saint 
Peter. 

Our Lord took Saint Peter by the hand and 
led him out to a steep precipice which leaned 
slantingly to one side. And He showed him 
that he only had to lean over the precipice very, 
very little to be able to look down into hell. 

When Saint Peter glanced down, he could 
not at first see anything more than if he had 
looked into a deep well. It was as though an 
endless chasm opened under him. 

The first thing which he could faintly distin- 
guish was the angel, who had already started 
on his way to the nether regions. Saint Peter 


OUR LORD AND SAINT PETER 233 


saw how the angel dived down into the great 
darkness, without the least fear, and spread his 
wings just a little, so as not to descend too 
rapidly. 

But when Saint Peter’s eyes had become a 
little more used to the darkness he began to 
see more and more. In the first place, he saw 
that Paradise lay on a ring-mountain, which 
encircled a wide chasm, and it was at the bot- 
tom of this chasm that the souls of the sinful 
had their abode. He saw how the angel sank 
and sank a long while without reaching the 
depths. He became absolutely terrified because 
it was such a long distance down there. 

“May he only come up again with my 
mother!’ said he. . 

Our Lord only looked at Saint Peter with 
great sorrowful eyes. ‘ There is no weight too 
heavy for my angel to carry,” said He. 

It was so far down to the nether regions that 
no ray of sunlight could penetrate thither: there 
darkness reigned. But it was as if the angel in 
his flight must have brought with him a little 
clearness and light, so that it was possible for 
Saint Peter to see how it looked down there. 

It was an endless, black rock-desert. Sharp, 
pointed rocks covered the entire foundation. 
There was not a green blade, not a tree, not a 
sign of life. 


214 CHRIST LEGENDS 


But all over, on the sharp rocks, were con- 
demned souls. They hung over the edges, 
whither they had clambered that they might 
swing themselves up from the ravine; and when 
they saw that they could get nowhere, they re- 
mained up there, petrified with anguish. 

Saint Peter saw some of them sit or lie with 
arms extended in ceaseless longing, and with 
eyes fixedly turned upwards. Others had cov- 
ered their faces with their hands, as if they 
would shut out the hopeless horror around 
them. They were all rigid; there was not one 
among them who had the power to move. 
Some lay in the water-pools, perfectly still, 
without trying to rise from them. 

But the most dreadful thing of all was— 
there was such a great throng of the lost. It 
was as though the bottom of the ravine were 
made up of nothing but bodies and heads. 

And Saint Peter was struck with a new fear. 
** You shall see that he will not find her,’’ said 
he to our Lord. 

Once more our Lord looked at him with the 
same grieved expression. He knew of course 
that Saint Peter did not need to be uneasy about 
the angel. 

But to Saint Peter it looked all the while as 
if the angel could not find his mother in that 
great company of lost souls. He spread his 


OUR LORD AND SAINT PETER 215 


wings and flew back and forth over the nether 
regions, while he sought her. 

Suddenly one of the poor lost creatures 
caught a glimpse of the angel, and he sprang 
up and stretched his arms towards him and 
cried: “ Take me with you! Take me with 
you!” 

Then, all at once, the whole throng was 
alive. All the millions upon millions who lan- 
guished in hell, roused themselves that instant, 
and raised their arms and cried to the angel 
that he should take them with him to the 
blessed Paradise. 

Their shrieks were heard all the way up to 
our Lord and Saint Peter, whose hearts 
throbbed with anguish as they heard. 

The angel swayed high above the con- 
demned; but as he traveled back and forth, to 
find the one whom he sought, they all rushed 
after him, so that it looked as though they Hae 
been swept on by a whirlwind. 

At last the angel caught sight of the one he 
was to take with him. He folded his wings 
over his back and shot down like a streak of 
lightning, and the astonished Saint Peter gave 
a cry of joy when he saw the angel place an 
arm around his mother and lift her up. 

‘“ Blessed be thou that bringest my mother to 
me!” said he. 


216 CHRIST LEGENDS 


Our Lord laid His hand gently on Saint 
Peter’s shoulder, as if He would warn him not 
to abandon himself to joy too soon. 

But Saint Peter was ready to weep for joy, 
because his mother was saved. He could not 
understand that anything further would have 
the power to part them. And his joy increased 
when he saw that, quick as the angel had been 
when he had lifted her up, still several of the 
lost souls had succeeded in attaching themselves 
to her who was to be saved, in order that they, 
too, might be borne to Paradise with her. 

There must have been a dozen who clung to 
the old woman, and Saint Peter thought it was 
a great honor for his mother to help so many 
poor unfortunate beings out of perdition. 

Nor did the angel do aught to hinder them. 
He seemed not at all troubled with his burden, 
but rose and rose, and moved his wings with no 
more effort than if he were carrying a little 
dead birdling to heaven. 

But then Saint Peter saw that his mother be- 
gan to free herself from the lost souls that had 
clung to her. She gripped their hands and 
loosened their hold, so that one after another 
tumbled down into hell. 

Saint Peter could hear how they begged and 
implored her; but the old woman did not desire 
that any one but herself should be saved. She 


OUR LORD AND SAINT PETER 217 


freed herself from more and more of them, and 
let them fall down into misery. And as they 
fell, all space was filled with their lamentations 
and curses. 

Then Saint Peter begged and implored his 
mother to show some compassion, but she 
would not listen, and kept right on as before. 

And Saint Peter saw how the angel flew 
slower and slower, the lighter his burden be- 
came. Such fear took hold of Saint Peter that 
his legs shook, and he was forced to drop on his 
knees. 

Finally, there was only one condemned soul 
who still clung to St. Peter’s mother. This was 
a young woman who hung on her neck and 
begged and cried in her ear that she would let 
her go along with her to the blessed Paradise. 

The angel with his burden had already come 
so far that Saint Peter stretched out his arms to 
receive his mother. He thought that the angel 
had to make only two or three wing-strokes 
more to reach the mountain. 

Then, all of a sudden, the angel held his 
wings perfectly still, and his countenance be- 
came dark as night. 

For now the old woman had stretched her 
hands back of her and gripped the arms of the 
young woman who hung about her neck, and 
she clutched and tore until she succeeded in sep- 


218 CHRIST LEGENDS 


arating the clasped hands, so that she was free 
from this last one also. 

When the condemned one fell the angel sank 
several fathoms lower, and it appeared as 
though he had not the strength to lift his wings 
again. 

He looked down upon the old woman with 
a deep, sorrowful glance; his hold around her 
waist loosened, and he let her fall, as if she 
were too heavy a burden for him, now that she 
was alone. 

Thereupon he swung himself with a single 
stroke up into Paradise. 

But Saint Peter lay for a long while in the 
same place, and sobbed, and our Lord stood 
silent beside him. 

“Saint Peter,;”-said “our Lord. at last, “I 
never thought that you would weep like this 
after you had reached Paradise.” 

Then God’s old servant raised his head and 
answered: ‘‘ What kind of a Paradise is this, 
where I can hear the moans of my dearest 
ones, and see the sufferings of my fellow 
men!” 

The face of our Lord became o’ercast by the 
deepest sorrow. ‘ What did I desire more than 
to prepare a Paradise for all, of nothing but 
light and happiness?” He said. ‘‘ Do you not 
understand that it was because of this I went 


OUR LORD AND SAINT PETER 219 


down among men and taught them to love their 
neighbors as themselves? For as long as they 
do this not, there will be no refuge in heaven 
or on earth where pain and sorrow cannot reach 
them.” | 


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THE SACRED FLAME 
I 


GREAT many years ago, when the city 

of Florence had only just been made a 
republic, a man lived there named Raniero di 
Raniero. He was the son of an armorer, and 
had learned his father’s trade, but he did not 
care much to pursue it. 

This Raniero was the strongest of men. It 
was said of him that he bore a heavy iron 
armor as lightly as others wear a silk shirt. 

He was still a young man, but already he had 
~ given many proofs of his strength. Once he 
was in a house where grain was stored in the 
loft. Too much grain had been heaped there; 
and while Raniero was in the house one of the 
loft beams broke down, and the whole roof was 
about to fall in. He raised his arms and held 
the roof up until the people managed to fetch 
beams and poles to prop it. 

It was also said of Raniero that he was the 
bravest man that had ever lived in Florence, 
and that he could never get enough of fighting. 
As soon as he heard any noise in the street, he 


222 


224 CHRIST LEGENDS 


rushed out from the workshop, in hopes that a 
fight had arisen in which he might participate. 
If he could only distinguish himself, he fought 
just as readily with humble peasants as with 
armored horsemen. He rushed into a fight 
like a lunatic, without counting his opponents. 

Florence was not very powerful in his time. 
The people were mostly wool spinners and 
cloth weavers, and these asked nothing better 
than to be allowed to perform their tasks in 
peace. Sturdy men were plentiful, but they 
were not quarrelsome, and they were proud of 
the fact that in their city better order prevailed 
than elsewhere. Raniero often grumbled be- 
cause he was not born in a country where there 
was a king who gathered around him valiant 
men, and declared that in such an event he 
would have attained great honor and renown. 

Raniero was loud-mouthed and_ boastful; 
cruel to animals, harsh toward his wife, and not 
good for any one to live with. He would have 
been handsome if he had not had several deep 
scars across his face which disfigured him. He 
was quick to jump at conclusions, and quick to 
act, though his way was often violent. 

Raniero was married to Francesca, who was 
the daughter of Jacopo degli Uberti, a wise 
and influential man. Jacopo had not been very 
anxious to give his daughter to such a bully as 


THE SACRED FLAME 225 


Raniero, but had opposed the marriage until 
the very last. Francesca forced him to relent, 
by declaring that she would never marry any 
one else. When Jacopo finally gave his con- 
sent, he said to Raniero: ‘“‘I have observed 
that men like you can more easily win a 
woman’s love than keep it; therefore I shall 
exact this promise from you: If my daughter 
finds life with you so hard that she wishes to 
come back to me, you will not prevent her.” 
Francesca said it was needless to exact such a 
promise, since she was so fond of Raniero that 
nothing could separate her from him. But 
Raniero gave his promise promptly. ‘“ Of one 
thing you can be assured, Jacopo,” said he—“ I 
will not try to hold any woman who wishes to 
flee from me.” 

Then Francesca went to live with Raniero, 
and all was well between them for a time. 
When they had been married a few weeks, 
Raniero took it into his head that he would 
practice marksmanship. For several days he 
aimed at a painting which hung upon a wall. 
He soon became skilled, and hit the mark every 
time. At last he thought he would like to try 
and shoot at a more difficult mark. He looked 
around for something suitable, but discovered 
nothing except a quail that sat in a cage above 
the courtyard gate. The bird belonged to 


226 CHRIST LEGENDS 


Francesca, and she was very fond of it; but, 
despite this, Raniero sent a page to open the 
cage, and shot the quail as it swung itself into 
the air. 

This seemed to him a very good shot, and he 
boasted of it to any one who would listen to 
him. 

When Francesca learned that Raniero had 
shot her bird, she grew pale and looked hard at 
him. She marveled that he had wished to do a 
thing which must bring grief to her; but she 
forgave him promptly and loved him as 
before. 

Then all went well again for a time. 

Raniero’s father-in-law, Jacopo, was a flax 
weaver. He had a large establishment, where 
much work was done. Raniero thought he had 
discovered that hemp was mixed with the flax 
in Jacopo’s workshop, and he did not keep 
silent about it, but talked of it here and there in 
the city. At last Jacopo also heard this chatter, 
and tried at once to put a stop to it. He let 
several other flax weavers examine his yarn and 
cloth, and they found all of it to be of the very 
finest flax. Only in one pack, which was de- 
signed to be sold outside of Florence, was there 
any mixture. Then Jacopo said that the decep- 
tion had been practised without his knowledge 
or consent, by some one among his journeymen. 


THE SACRED FLAME 227 


He apprehended at once that he would find it 
dificult to convince people of this. He had 
always been famed for honesty, and he felt very 
keenly that his honor had been smirched. 

Raniero, on the other hand, plumed him- 
self upon having succeeded in exposing a fraud, 
and he bragged about it even in Francesca’s 
hearing. 

She felt deeply grieved; at the same time she 
was as astonished as when he shot the bird. As 
she thought of this, she seemed suddenly to see 
her love before her; and it was like a great 
piece of shimmery gold cloth. She could see 
how big it was, and how it shimmered. But 
from one corner a piece had been cut away, so 
that it was not as big and as beautiful as it had 
been in the beginning. 

Still, it was as yet damaged so very little that 
she thought: ‘“‘ It will probably last as long as 
I live. It is so great that it can never come to 
an end.” 

Again, there was a period during which she 
and Raniero were just as happy as they had 
been at first. 

Francesca had a brother named Taddeo. He 
had been in Venice on a business trip, and, 
while there, had purchased garments of silk and 
velvet. When he came home he paraded 
around in them. Now, in Florence it was not 


228 CHRIST LEGENDS 


the custom to go about expensively clad, so 
there were many who made fun of him. 

One night Taddeo and Raniero were out in 
the wine shops. Taddeo was dressed in a green 
cloak with sable linings, and a violet jacket. 
Raniero tempted him to drink so much wine 
that he fell asleep, and then he took his cloak 
off him and hung it upon a scarecrow that was 
set up in a cabbage patch. 

When Francesca heard of this she was vexed 
again with Raniero. That moment she saw 
before her the big piece of gold cloth—which 
was her love—and she seemed to see how it 
diminished, as Raniero cut away piece after 
piece. 

After this, things were patched up between 
them for a time, but Francesca was no longer 
so happy as in former days, because she always 
feared that Raniero would commit some mis- 
demeanor that would hurt her love. 

This was not long in coming, either, for 
Raniero could never be tranquil. He wished 
that people should always speak of him and 
praise his courage and daring. 

At that time the cathedral in Florence was 
much smaller than the present one, and there 
hung at the top of one of its towers a big, heavy 
shield, which had been placed there by one of 
Francesca’s ancestors. It was the heaviest 


THE SACRED FLAME 229 


shield any man in Florence had been able to lift, 
and all the Uberti family were proud because 
it was one of their own who had climbed up in 
the tower and hung it there. 

But Raniero climbed up to the shield one day, 
hung it on his back, and came down with it. 

When Francesca heard of this for the first 
time she spoke to Raniero of what troubled 
her, and begged him not to humiliate her family 
in this way. Raniero, who had expected that 
* she would commend him for his feat, became 
very angry. He retorted that he had long ob- 
served that she did not rejoice in his success, 
but thought only of her own kin. ‘“ It’s some- 
thing else I am thinking of,” said Francesca, 
‘and that is my love. I know not what will 
become of it if you keep on in this way.” 

After this they frequently exchanged harsh 
words, for Raniero happened nearly always to 
do the very thing that was most distasteful to 
Francesca. 

There was a workman in Raniero’s shop who 
was little and lame. This man had loved Fran- 
cesca before she was married, and continued to 
love her even after her marriage. Raniero, who 
knew this, undertook to joke with him before 
all who sat at a table. It went so far that 
finally the man could no longer bear to be held 
up to ridicule in Francesca’s hearing, so he 


230 CHRIST LEGENDS 


rushed upon Raniero and wanted to fight with 
him. But Raniero only smiled derisively and 
kicked him aside. Then the poor fellow 
thought he did not care to live any longer, and 
went off and hanged himself. 

When this happened, Francesca and Raniero 
had been married about a year. Francesca 
thought continually that she saw her love be- 
fore her as a shimmery piece of cloth, but on 
all sides large pieces were cut away, so that it 
was scarcely half as big as it had been in the 
beginning. 

She became very much alarmed when she saw 
this, and thought: “If I stay with Raniero an- 
other year, he will destroy my love. I shall 
become just as poor as I have hitherto been 
rich.” 

Then she concluded to leave Raniero’s house 
and go to live with her father, that the day 
might not come when she should hate Raniero 
as much as she now loved him. 

Jacopo degli Uberti was sitting at the loom 
with all his workmen busy around him when he 
saw her coming. He said that now the thing 
had come to pass which he had long expected, 
and bade her be welcome. Instantly he ordered 
all the people to leave off their work and arm 
themselves and close the house. 

Then Jacopo went over to Raniero. He met 


THE SACRED FLAME 231 


him in the workshop. ‘‘ My daughter has this 
day returned to me and begged that she may 
live again under my roof,” he said to his son- 
in-law. ‘‘ And now I expect that you will not 
compel her to return to you, after the promise 
you have given me.” 

Raniero did not seem to take this very se- 
riously, but answered calmly: ‘‘ Even if I had 
not given you my word, I would not demand 
the return of a woman who does not wish to be 
mine.” 

He knew how much Francesca loved him, 
and said to himself: ‘‘ She will be back with 
me before evening.” 

Yet she did not appear either that day or the 
next. 

The third day Raniero went out and pur- 
sued a couple of robbers who had long dis- 
turbed the Florentine merchants. He succeeded 
in catching them, and took them captives to 
Florence. 

He remained quiet a couple of days, until 
he was positive that this feat was known 
throughout the city. But it did not turn out as 
he had expected—that it would bring Francesca 
back to him. 

Raniero had the greatest desire to appeal to 
the courts, to force her return to him, but he 
felt himself unable to do this because of his 


232 CHRIST LEGENDS 


promise, It seemed impossible for him to live 
in the same city with a wife who had aban- 
doned him, so he moved away from Florence. 

He first became a soldier, and very soon he 
made himself commander of a volunteer com- 
pany. He was always in a fight, and served 
many masters. 

He won much renown as a warrior, as he had 
always said he would. He was made a knight 
by the Emperor, and was accounted a great 
man. 

Before he left Florence, he had made a vow 
at a sacred image of the Madonna in the Cathe- 
dral to present to the Blessed Virgin the best 
and rarest that he won in every battle. Before 
this image one always saw costly gifts, which 
were presented by Raniero. 

Raniero was aware that all his deeds were 
known in his native city. He marveled much 
that Francesca degli Uberti did not come back 
to him, when she knew all about his success. 

At that time sermons were preached to start 
the Crusades for the recovery of the Holy Sep- 
ulchre from the Saracens, and Raniero took the 
cross and departed for the Orient. He not only 
hoped to win castles and lands to rule over, but 
also to succeed in performing such brilliant 
feats that his wife would again be fond of him, 
and return to him. 


THE SACRED FLAME 233 


II 


The night succeeding the day on which Jeru- 
salem had been captured, there was great re- 
joicing in the Crusaders’ camp, outside the city. 
In almost every tent they celebrated with drink- 
ing bouts, and noise and roystering were heard 
in every direction. . 

Raniero di Raniero sat and drank with some 
comrades; and in his tent it was even more hila- 
rious than elsewhere. The servants barely had 
time to fill the goblets before they were empty 
again. 

Raniero had the best of reasons for celebrat- 
ing, because during the day he had won greater 
glory than ever before. In the morning, when 
the city was besieged, he had been the first to 
scale the walls after Godfrey of Boulogne; and 
in the evening he had been honored for his 
bravery in the presence of the whole corps. 

When the plunder and murder were ended, 
and the Crusaders in penitents’ cloaks and with 
lighted candles marched into the Church of the 
Holy Sepulchre, it had been announced to Ra- 
niero by Godfrey that he should be the first who 
might light his candle from the sacred candles 
which burn before Christ’s tomb. It appeared 
to Raniero that Godfrey wished in this manner 
to show that he considered him the bravest man 


234 CHRIST LEGENDS 


in the whole corps; and he was very happy over 
the way in which he had been rewarded for his 
achievements. 

As the night wore on, Raniero and his guests 
were in the best of spirits; a fool and a couple 
of musicians who had wandered all over the 
camp and amused the people with their pranks, 
came into Raniero’s tent, and the fool asked 
permission to narrate a comic story. 

Raniero knew that this particular fool was 
in great demand for his drollery, and he prom- 
ised to listen to his narrative. 

‘Tt happened once,” said the fool, ‘‘ that our 
Lord and Saint Peter sat a whole day upon the 
highest tower in Paradise Stronghold, and 
looked down upon the earth. They had so 
much to look at, that they scarcely found time 
to exchange a word. Our Lord kept perfectly 
still the whole time, but Saint Peter sometimes 
clapped his hands for joy, and again turned his 
head away in disgust. Sometimes he applauded 
and smiled, and anon he wept and commiser- 
ated. Finally, as it drew toward the close 
of day, and twilight sank down over Par- 
adise, our Lord turned to Saint Peter and 
said that now he must surely be satisfied 
and content. ‘ What is it that I should be con- 
tent with?’ Saint Peter asked, in an impetuous 
tone. ‘ Why,’ said our Lord slowly, ‘ I thought 


THE SACRED FLAME 235 


that you would be pleased with what you have 
seen to-day.’ But Saint Peter did not care to 
be conciliated. ‘It is true,’ said he, ‘that for 
many years I have bemoaned the fact that Jeru- 
salem should be in the power of unbelievers, 
but after all that has happened to-day, I think it 
might just as well have remained as it was.’ ”’ 
Raniero understood now that the fool spoke 
of what had taken place during the day. Both 
he and the other knights began to listen with 
greater interest than in the beginning. 
“When Saint Peter had said this,” continued 
the fool, as he cast a furtive glance at the 
knights, “he leaned over the pinnacle of the 
tower and pointed toward the earth. He 
showed our Lord a city which lay upon a great 
solitary rock that shot up from a mountain val- 
ley. ‘Do you see those mounds of corpses?’ 
he said. ‘And do you see the naked and 
wretched prisoners who moan in the night chill? 
And do you see all the smoking ruins of the con- 
flagration?’ It appeared as if our Lord did 
not wish to answer him, but Saint Peter went on 
with his lamentations. He said that he had cer- 
tainly been vexed with that city many times, but 
he had not wished it so ill as that it should 
come to look like this. Then, at last, our Lord 
answered, and tried an objection: ‘Still, you 
can not deny that the Christian knights have 


236 CHRIST LEGENDS 


risked their lives with the utmost fearlessness,’ 
said He.” 

Then the fool was interrupted by bravos, but 
he made haste to continue. 

“Oh, don’t interrupt me!”’ he said. ‘‘ Now 
I don’t remember where I left off—ah! to be 
sure, I was just going to say that Saint Peter 
wiped away a tear or two which sprang to his 
eyes and prevented him from seeing. ‘I never 
would have thought they could be such beasts,’ 
said he. ‘They have murdered and plundered 
the whole day. Why you went to all the trou- 
ble of letting yourself be crucified in order to 
gain such devotees, I can’t in the least compre- 
hend.’ ” 

The knights took up the fun good-naturedly. 
They began to laugh loud and merrily. 
“What, fool! Is Saint Peter so wroth with 
us?’’ shrieked one of them. 

‘“* Be silent now, and let us hear if our Lord 
spoke in our defense! ” interposed another. 

‘““ No, our Lord was silent. He knew of old 
that when Saint Peter had once got a-going, it 
wasn’t worth while to argue with him. He 
went on in his way, and said that our Lord 
needn’t trouble to tell him that finally they re- 
membered to which city they had come, and 
went to church barefooted and in penitents’ 
garb. That spirit had, of course, not lasted 


THE SACRED FLAME 237 


long enough to be worth mentioning. And 
thereupon he leaned once more over the tower 
and pointed downward toward Jerusalem. He 
pointed out the Christians’ camp outside the 
city. ‘Do you see how your knights celebrate 
their victories?’ he asked. And our Lord saw 
that there was revelry everywhere in the camp. 
Knights and soldiers sat and looked upon 
Syrian dancers. Filled goblets went the rounds 
while they threw dice for the spoils of war 
and——”’ 

“They listened to fools who told vile 
stories,” interpolated Raniero. ‘‘ Was not this 
also a great sin?” 

The fool laughed and shook his head at Ra- 
niero, as much as to say, ‘‘ Wait! I will pay you 
back.” 

‘““No, don’t interrupt me!” he begged once 
again. ‘A poor fool forgets so easily what he 
would say. Ah! it was this: Saint Peter asked 
our Lord if He thought these people were much 
of a credit to Him. To this, of course, our 
Lord had to reply that He didn’t think they 
were. 

“They were robbers and murderers before 
they left home, and robbers and murderers they 
are even to-day. This undertaking you could 
just as well have left undone. No good will 
come of it,’ said Saint Peter.” 


238 CHRIST LEGENDS 


‘“Come, come, fool!” said Raniero in a 
threatening tone. But the fool seemed to con- 
sider it an honor to test how far he could go 
without some one jumping up and throwing him 
out, and he continued fearlessly. 

“Our Lord only bowed His head, like one 
who acknowledges that he is being justly re- 
buked. But almost at the same instant He 
leaned forward eagerly and peered down with 
closer scrutiny than before. Saint Peter also 
glanced down. ‘ What are you looking for?’ 
he wondered.” 

The fool delivered this speech with much 
animated facial play. All the knights saw our 
Lord and Saint Peter before their eyes, and 
they wondered what it was our Lord had 
caught sight of. 

“Our Lord answered that it was nothing in 
particular,’ said the fool. “Saint Peter gazed 
in the direction of our Lord’s glance, but he 
could discover nothing except that our Lord sat 
and looked down into a big tent, outside of 
which a couple of Saracen heads were set up on 
long lances, and where a lot of fine rugs, golden 
vessels, and costly weapons, captured in the 
Holy City, were piled up. In that tent they 
carried on as they did everywhere else in the 
camp. A company of knights sat and emptied 
their goblets. The only difference might be 


THE SACRED FLAME 239 


that here there were more drinking and roy- 
stering than elsewhere. Saint Peter could not 
comprehend why our Lord was so pleased when 
He looked down there, that His eyes fairly 
sparkled with delight. So many hard and cruel 
faces he had rarely before seen gathered around 
a drinking table. And he who was host at the 
board and sat at the head of the table was 
the most dreadful of all. He was a man of 
thirty-five, frightfully big and coarse, with a 
blowsy countenance covered with scars and 
scratches, calloused hands, and a loud, bellow- 
ing voice.” 

Here the fool paused a moment, as if he 
feared to go on, but both Raniero and the 
others liked to hear him talk of themselves, and 
only laughed at his audacity. ‘‘ You’re a dar- 
ing fellow,” said Raniero, ‘‘ so let us see what 
you are driving at!” 

“Finally, our Lord said a few words,” con- 
tinued the fool, “‘ which made Saint Peter un- 
derstand what He rejoiced over. He asked 
Saint Peter if He saw wrongly, or if it could 
actually be true that one of the knights had a 
burning candle beside him.”’ 

Raniero gave a start at these words. Now, 
at last, he was angry with the fool, and reached 
out his hand for a heavy wine pitcher to throw 
at his face, but he controlled himself that he 


240 CHRIST LEGENDS 


might hear whether the fellow wished to speak 
to his credit or discredit. 

“Saint Peter saw now,” narrated the fool, 
“that, although the tent was lighted mostly by 
torches, one of the knights really had a burning 
wax candle beside him. It was a long, thick 
candle, one of the sort made to burn twenty- 
four hours. The knight, who had no candle- 
stick to set it in, had gathered together some 
stones and piled them around it, to make it 
stand.” 

The company burst into shrieks of laughter 
at this. All pointed at a candle which stood on 
the table beside Raniero, and was exactly like 
the one the fool had described. The blood 
mounted to Raniero’s head; for this was the 
candle which he had a few hours before been 
permitted to light at the Holy Sepulchre. He 
had been unable to make up his mind to let it 
die out. 

“When Saint Peter saw that candle,” said 
the fool, “ it dawned upon him what it was that 
our Lord was so happy over, but at the same 
time he could not help feeling just a little sorry 
for Him. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘it was the same 
knight that leaped upon the wall this morning 
immediately after the gentleman of Boulogne, 
and who this evening was permitted to light his 
candle at the Holy Sepulchre ahead of all the 


THE SACRED FLAME 241 


others. ‘True!’ said our Lord. ‘ And, as you 
see, his candle is still burning.’ ” 

The fool talked very fast now, casting an 
occasional sly glance at Raniero. “ Saint Peter 
could not help pitying our Lord. ‘ Can’t you 
understand why he keeps that candle burning?’ 
said he. ‘ You must believe that he thinks of 
your sufferings and death whenever he looks at 
it. But he thinks only of the glory which he 
won when he was acknowledged to be the 
bravest man in the troop after Godfrey.’ ”’ 

At this all Raniero’s guests laughed. Ra- 
niero was very angry, but he, too, forced him- 
self to laugh. He knew they would have found 
it still more amusing if he hadn’t been able to 
take a little fun. 

“But our Lord contradicted Saint Peter,” 
said the fool. ‘‘ ‘ Don’t you see how careful he 
is- with. the lishtr” asked Ile. “Eile puts his 
hand before the flame as soon as any one raises 
the tent-flap, for fear the draught will blow it 
out. And he is constantly occupied in chasing 
away the moths which fly around it and threaten 
to extinguish it.’ ” 

The laughter grew merrier and merrier, for 
what the fool said was the truth. Raniero 
found it more and more difficult to control him- 
self. He felt he could not endure that any one 
should jest about the sacred candle. 


242 CHRIST LEGENDS 


“Still, Saint Peter was dubious,” continued 
the fool. “‘ He asked our Lord if He knew that 
knight. ‘ He’s not one who goes often to Mass 
or wears out the prie-dieu,’ said he. But our 
Lord could not be swerved from His opinion. 

‘** Saint Peter, Saint Peter,’ He said earnestly. 
‘Remember that henceforth this knight shall 
become more pious than Godfrey. Whence do 
piety and gentleness spring, if not from my sep- 
ulchre? You shall see Raniero di Raniero help 
widows and distressed prisoners. You shall see 
him care for the sick and despairing as he now 
cares for the sacred candle flame.’ ”’ 

At this they laughed inordinately. It struck 
them all as very ludicrous, for they knew Ra- 
niero’s disposition and mode of living. But he 
himself found both the jokes and laughter in- 
tolerable. He sprang to his feet and wanted to 
reprove the fool. As he did this, he bumped so 
hard against the table—which was only a door 
set up on loose boxes—that it wabbled, and the 
candle fell down. It was evident now how 
careful Raniero was to keep the candle burning. 
He controlled his anger and gave himself time 
to pick it up and brighten the flame, before he 
rushed upon the fool. But when he had 
trimmed the light the fool had already darted 
out of the tent, and Raniero knew it would be 
useless to pursue him in the darkness. “I shall 


THE SACRED FLAME 243 


probably run across him another time,” he 
thought, and sat down. 

Meanwhile the guests had laughed mock- 
ingly, and one of them turned to Raniero and 
wanted to continue the jesting. He said: 
“There is one thing, however, which is certain, 
Raniero, and that is—this time you can’t send 
to the Madonna in Florence the most precious 
thing you have won in the battle.” 

Raniero asked why he thought that he should 
not follow his old habit this time. 

“For no other reason,” said the knight, 
“than that the most precious thing you have 
won is that sacred candle flame, which you were 
permitted to light at the church of the Holy 
Sepulchre in presence of the whole corps. 
Surely you can’t send that to Florence! ” 

Again the other knights laughed, but Ra- 
niero was now in the mood to undertake the 
wildest projects, just to put an end to their 
laughter. He came to a conclusion quickly, 
called to an old squire, and said to him: ‘‘ Make 
ready, Giovanni, for a long journey. To-mor- 
row you shall travel to Florence with this sacred 
candle flame.” 

But the squire said a blunt no to this com- 
mand. “ This is something which I don’t care 
to. undertake,” he said. ‘‘ How should it be 
possible to travel to Florence with a candle 


244 CHRIST LEGENDS 


flame? It would be extinguished before I had 
left the camp.” 

Raniero asked one after another of his men. 
He received the same reply from all. They 
scarcely seemed to take his command seriously. 

It was a foregone conclusion that the for- 
eign knights who were his guests should laugh 
even louder and more merrily, as it became ap- 
parent that none of Raniero’s men wished to 
carry out his order. 

Raniero grew more and more excited. 
Finally he lost his patience and shouted: “ This 
candle flame shall nevertheless be borne to Flor- 
ence; and since no one else will ride there with 
it, I will do so myself!” 

‘Consider before you promise anything of 
the kind!” said a knight. ‘‘ You ride away 
from a principality.” 

‘““T swear to you that I will carry this sacred 
flame to Florence!” exclaimed Raniero. ‘I 
shall do what no one else has cared to under- 
take.” 

The old squire defended himself. ‘‘ Mas- 
ter, it’s another matter for you. You can take 
with you a large retinue but me you would send 
alone.” 

But Raniero was clean out of himself, and 
did not consider his words. “I, too, shall 
travel alone,”’ said he. 


THE SACRED FLAME 245 


But with this declaration Raniero had car- 
ried his point. Every one in the tent had 
ceased laughing. Terrified, they sat and stared 
at him. 

‘“Why don’t you laugh any more?” asked 
Raniero. “ This undertaking surely can’t be 
anything but a child’s game for a brave man.” 


Ill 


The next morning at dawn Raniero mounted 
his horse. He was in full armor, but over 
it he had thrown a coarse pilgrim cloak, 
so that the iron dress should not become 
overheated by exposure to the sun’s rays. 
He was armed with a sword and _ battle- 
club, and rode a good horse. He held in his 
hand a burning candle, and to the saddle he had 
tied a couple of bundles of long wax candles, 
so the flame should not die out for lack of 
nourishment. 

Raniero rode slowly through the long, en- 
cumbered tent street, and thus far all went well. 
It was still so early that the mists which had 
arisen from the deep dales surrounding Jerusa- 
lem were not dispersed, and Raniero rode for- 
ward as in a white night. The whole troop 
slept, and Raniero passed the guards easily. 
None of them called out his name, for the mist 


246 CHRIST LEGENDS 


prevented their seeing him, and the roads were 
covered with a dust-like soil a foot high, which 
made the horse’s tramp inaudible. 

Raniero was soon outside the camp and 
started on the road which led to Joppa. Here 
it was smoother, but he rode very slowly now, 
because of the candle, which burned feebly in 
the thick mist. Big insects kept dashing against 
the flame. Raniero had all he could do guard- 
ing it, but he was in the best of spirits and 
thought all the while that the mission which he 
had undertaken was so easy that a child could 
manage it. 

Meanwhile, the horse grew weary of the 
slow pace, and began to trot. The flame began 
to flicker in the wind. It didn’t help that Ra- 
niero tried to shield it with -his hand and with 
the cloak. He saw that it was about to be ex- 
tinguished. 

But he had no desire to abandon the project 
so soon. He stopped the horse, sat still a mo- 
ment, and pondered. Then he dismounted and 
tried sitting backwards, so that his body 
shielded the flame from the wind. In this way 
he succeeded in keeping it burning; but he real- 
ized now that the journey would be more difh- 
cult than he had thought at the beginning. 

When he had passed the mountains which 
surround Jerusalem, the fog lifted. He rode 


THE SACRED FLAME 247 


forward now in the greatest solitude. There 
were no people, houses, green trees, nor plants 
—only bare rocks. 

Here Raniero was attacked by robbers. 
They were idle folk, who followed the camp 
without permission, and lived by theft and 
plunder. They had lain in hiding behind a hill, 
and Raniero—who rode backwards—had not 
seen them until they had surrounded him and 
brandished their swords at him. 

There were about twelve men. They looked 
wretched, and rode poor horses. Raniero saw 
at once that it would not be difficult for him to ° 
break through this company and ride on. And 
after his proud boast of the night before, he 
was unwilling to abandon his undertaking 
easily. 

He saw no other means of escape than to 
compromise with the robbers. He told them 
that, since he was armed and rode a good horse, 
it might be difficult to overpower him if he de- 
fended himself. And as he was bound by a 
vow, he did not wish to offer resistance, but they 
could take whatever they wanted, without a 
struggle, if only they promised not to put out 
his light. 

The robbers had expected a hard struggle, 
and were very happy over Raniero’s proposal, 
and began immediately to plunder him. They 


248 CHRIST LEGENDS 


took from him armor and steed, weapons and 
money. ‘The only thing they let him keep was 
the coarse cloak and the two bundles of wax 
candles. They sacredly kept their promise, 
also, not to put out the candle flame. 

One of them mounted Raniero’s horse. 
When he noticed what a fine animal he was, he 
felt a little sorry for the rider. He called out 
to him: ‘“‘ Come, come, we must not be too cruel 
toward a Christian. You shall have my old 
horse to ride.” 

It was a miserable old screw of a horse. It 
moved as stiffly, and with as much difficulty, as 
if it were made of wood. 

When the robbers had gone at last, and 
Raniero had mounted the wretched horse, he 
said to himself: ‘“‘I must have become be- 
witched by this candle flame. For its sake I 
must now travel along the roads like a crazy 
beggar.”’ 

He knew it would be wise for him to turn 
back, because the undertaking was really im- 
practicable. But such an intense yearning to 
accomplish it had come over him that he could 
not resist the desire to go on. ‘Therefore, he 
went farther. He saw all around him the same 
bare, yellowish hills. 

After a while he came across a goatherd, who 
tended four goats. When Raniero saw the ani- 


THE SACRED FLAME 249 


mals grazing on the barren ground, he won- 
dered if they ate earth. 

This goatherd had owned a larger flock, 
which had been stolen from him by the Cru- 
saders. When he noticed a solitary Christian 
come riding toward him, he tried to do him all 
the harm he could. He rushed up to him and 
struck at his light with his staff. Raniero was 
so taken up by the flame that he could not de- 
fend himself even against a goatherd. He only 
drew the candle close to him to protect it. The 
goatherd struck at it several times more, then 
he paused, astonished, and ceased striking. He 
noticed that Raniero’s cloak had caught fire, 
but Raniero did nothing to smother the blaze, 
so long as the sacred flame was in danger. The 
goatherd looked as though he felt ashamed. 
For a long time he followed Raniero, and in 
one place, where the road was very narrow, 
with a deep chasm on each side of it, he came 
up and led the horse for him. 

Raniero smiled and thought the goatherd 
surely regarded him as a holy man who had 
undertaken a voluntary penance. 

Toward evening Raniero began to meet peo- 
ple. Rumors of the fall of Jerusalem had al- 
ready spread to the coast, and a throng of peo- 
ple had immediately prepared to go up there. 
There were pilgrims who for years had awaited 


250 CHRIST LEGENDS 


an opportunity to get into Jerusalem, also some 
newly-arrived troops; but they were mostly 
merchants who were hastening with provisions. 

When these throngs met Raniero, who came 
riding backwards with a burning candle in his 
hand, they cried: ‘‘ A madman, a madman!” 

The majority were Italians; and Raniero 
heard how they shouted in his own tongue, 
‘““ Pazzo, pazzo!”’ which means “a madman, 
a madman.” 

Raniero, who had been able to keep himself 
well in check all day, became intensely irritated 
by these ever-recurring shouts. Instantly he 
dismounted and began to chastise the offenders 
with his hard fists. When they saw how heavy 
the blows were, they took to their heels, and 
Raniero soon stood alone on the road. 

Now Raniero was himself again. “In truth 
they were right to call me a madman,” he said, 
as he looked around for the light. He did not 
know what he had done with it. At last he saw 
that it had rolled down into a hollow. ‘The 
flame was extinguished, but he saw fire gleam 
from a dry grass-tuft close beside it, and under- 
stood that luck was with him, for the flame had 
ignited the grass before it had gone out. 

“This might have been an inglorious end of 
a deal of trouble,”’ he thought, as he lit the can- 
dle and stepped into the saddle. He was rather 


THE SACRED FLAME 251 


mortified. It did not seem to him very prob- 
able that his journey would be a success. 

In the evening Raniero reached Ramle, and 
rode up to a place where caravans usually had 
night harbor. It was a large covered yard. 
All around it were little stalls where travelers 
could put up their horses. There were no 
rooms, but folk could sleep beside the animals. 

The place was overcrowded with people, yet 
the host found room for Raniero and his horse. 
He also gave fodder to the horse and food to 
the rider. 

When Raniero perceived that he was well 
treated, he thought: ‘ I almost believe the rob- 
bers did me a service when they took from me 
my armor and my horse. I shall certainly 
get out of the country more easily with my light 
burden, if they mistake me for a lunatic.” 

When he had led the horse into the stall, he 
sat down on a sheaf of straw and held the can- 
dle in his hands. It was his intention not to 
fall asleep, but to remain awake all night. 

But he had hardly seated himself when he 
fell asleep. He was fearfully exhausted, and 
in his sleep he stretched out full length and did 
not wake till morning. 

When he awoke he saw neither flame nor can- 
dle. He searched in the straw for the candle, 
but did not find it anywhere. 


252 CHRIST LEGENDS 


“Some one has taken it from me and extin- 
guished it,” he said. He tried to persuade him- 
self that he was glad that all was over, and that 
he need not pursue an impossible undertaking. 

But as he pondered, he felt a sense of empti- 
ness and loss. He thought that never before 
had he so longed to succeed in anything on 
which he had set his mind. 

He led the horse out and groomed and sad- 
dled it. 

When he was ready to set out, the host who 
owned the caravansary came up to him with a 
burning candle. He said in Frankish: ‘‘ When 
you fell asleep last night, I had to take your 
light from you, but here you have it again.” 

Raniero betrayed nothing, but said very 
calmly: ‘‘ It was wise of you to extinguish it.” 

‘““T have not extinguished it,” said the man. 
“IT noticed that it was burning when you ar- 
rived, and I thought it was of importance to 
you that it should continue to burn. If you see 
how much it has decreased, you will understand 
that it has been burning all night.”’ 

Raniero beamed with happiness. He com- 
mended the host heartily, and rode away in the 
best of spirits. 


THE SACRED FLAME 253 


IV 


When Raniero broke away from the camp 
at Jerusalem, he intended to travel from Joppa 
to Italy by sea, but changed his mind after he 
had been robbed of his money, and concluded 
to make the journey by land. 

It was a long journey. From Joppa he went 
northward along the Syrian coast. Then he 
rode westward along the peninsula of Asia 
Minor, then northward again, all the way to 
Constantinople. From there he still had a mo- 
notonously long distance to travel to reach 
Florence. During the whole journey Raniero 
had lived upon the contributions of the pious. 
They that shared their bread with him mostly 
were pilgrims who at this time traveled en 
masse to Jerusalem. 

Regardless of the fact that he nearly always 
rode alone, his days were neither long nor mo- 
notonous. He must always guard the candle 
flame, and on its account he never could feel at 
ease. It needed only a puff of breeze—a rain- 
drop—and there would have been an end to it. 

As Raniero rode over lonely roads, and 
thought only about keeping the flame alive, it 
occurred to him that once before he had been 
concerned with something similar. Once be- 


254 CHRIST LEGENDS 


fore he had seen a person watch over some- 
thing which was just as sensitive as a candle 
flame. 

This recollection was so vague to him at first 
that he wondered if it was something he had 
dreamed. 

But as he rode on alone through the country, 
it kept recurring to him that he had participated 
in something similar once before. 

“Tt is as if all my life long I had heard tell 
of nothing else,’’ said he. 

One evening he rode into a city. It was after 
sundown, and the housewives stood in their 
doorways and watched for their husbands. 
Then he noticed one who was tall and slender, 
and had earnest eyes. She reminded him of 
Francesca degli Uberti. 

Instantly it became clear to him what he had 
been pondering over. He thought how Fran- 
cesca’s love had in truth been like a candle flame 
which she had always wished to keep burning, 
and which she had constantly feared that Ra- 
niero would quench. He was astonished at this 
thought, but grew more and more certain that 
the matter stood thus. For the first time he be- 
gan to apprehend why Francesca had left him, 
and that it was not with feats of arms he should 
win her back. 


THE SACRED FLAME 255 


The journey which Raniero made was of 
long duration. This was in part due to the fact 
that he could not venture out when the weather 
was bad. ‘Then he sat in some caravansary, 
and guarded the candle flame. ‘These were 
very trying days. 

One day, when he rode over Mount Leba- 
non, he saw that a storm was brewing. He was 
riding high up among awful precipices, and a 
frightful distance from any human abode. 
Finally he saw on the summit of a rock the 
tomb of a Saracen saint. It was a little square 
stone structure with a vaulted roof. He thought 
it best to seek shelter there. 

He had barely entered when a snowstorm 
came up, which raged for two days and nights. 
At the same time it grew so cold that he came 
near freezing to death. 

Raniero knew that there were heaps of 
branches and twigs out on the mountain, and it 
would not have been difficult for him to gather 
fuel for a fire. But he considered the candle 
flame which he carried very sacred, and did not 
wish to light anything from it, except the can- 
dles before the Blessed Virgin’s Altar. 

The storm increased, and at last he heard 
thunder and saw gleams of lightning. 

Then came a flash which struck the mountain, 
just in front of the tomb, and set fire to a tree. 


256 CHRIST LEGENDS 


And in this way he was enabled to light his 
fire without having to borrow of the sacred 
flame. 


As Raniero was riding on through a desolate 
portion of the Cilician mountain district, his 
candles were all used up. The candles which 
he had brought with him from Jerusalem had 
long since been consumed; but still he had been 
able to manage because he had found Christian 
communities all along the way, of whom he had 
begged fresh candles. _ 

But now his resources were exhausted, and 
he thought that this would be the end of his 
journey. 

When the candle was so nearly burned out 
that the flame scorched his hand, he jumped 
from his horse and gathered branches and dry 
leaves and lit these with the last of the flame. 
But up on the mountain there was very little 
that would ignite, and the fire would soon burn 
out. 

While he sat and grieved because the sacred 
flame must die, he heard singing down the road, 
and a procession of pilgrims came marching up 
the steep path, bearing candles in their hands. 
They were on their way to a grotto where a 
holy man had lived, and Raniero followed 
them. Among them was a woman who was 


THE SACRED FLAME 257 


very old and had difficulty in walking, and Ra- 
niero carried her up the mountain. 

When she thanked him afterwards, he made 
a sign to her that she should give him her can- 
dle. She did so, and several others also pre- 
sented him with the candles which they carried. 
He extinguished the candles, hurried down the 
steep path, and lit one of them with the last 
spark from the fire lighted by the sacred flame. 


One day at the noon hour it was very warm, 
and Raniero had lain down to sleep in a thicket. 
He slept soundly, and the candle stood beside 
him between a couple of stones: When he had 
been asleep a while, it began to rain, and this 
continued for some time, without his waking. 
When at last he was startled out of his sleep, 
the ground around him was wet, and he hardly 
dared glance toward the light, for fear it might 
be quenched. 

But the light burned calmly and steadily in 
the rain, and Raniero saw that this was because 
two little birds flew and fluttered just above the 
flame. They caressed it with their bills, and 
held their wings outspread, and in this way they 
protected the sacred flame from the rain. 

He took off his hood immediately, and hung 
it over the candle. Thereupon he reached out 
his hand for the two little birds, for he had 


258 CHRIST LEGENDS 


been seized with a desire to pet them. Neither 
of them flew away because of him, and he could 
catch them. 

He was very much astonished that the birds 
were not afraid of him. “ It is because they 
know I have no thought except to protect that 
which is the most sensitive of all, that they do 
not fear me,” thought he. 


Raniero rode in the vicinity of Nicaea, in 
Bithynia. Here he met some western gentle- 
men who were conducting a party of recruits to 
the Holy Land. In this company was Robert 
Taillefer, who was a wandering knight and a 
troubadour. 

Raniero, in his torn cloak, came riding along 
with the candle in his hand, and the warriors 
began as usual to shout, ‘“‘ A madman, a mad- 
man!’’ But Robert silenced them, and ad- 
dressed the rider. 

“Have you journeyed far in this manner?” 
he asked. 

‘““T have ridden like this all the way from 
Jerusalem,” answered Raniero. 

“Has your light been extinguished many 
times during the journey?” — 

“Still burns the flame that lighted the can- 
dle with which I rode away from Jerusalem,”’ 
responded Raniero. 


THE SACRED FLAME 259 


Then Robert Taillefer said to him: “I am 
also one of those who carry a light, and I would 
that it burned always. But perchance you, 
who have brought your light burning all the 
way from Jerusalem, can tell me what I shall 
do that it may not become extinguished? ”’ 

Then Raniero answered: ‘“‘ Master, it is a 
difficult task, although it appears to be of slight 
importance. This little flame demands of you 
that you shall entirely cease to think of anything 
else. It will not allow you to have any sweet- 
heart—in case you should desire anything of 
the sort—neither would you dare on account of 
this flame to sit down at a revel. You can not 
have aught else in your thoughts than just this 
flame, and must possess no other happiness. 
But my chief reason for advising you against 
making the journey which I have weathered is 
that you can not for an instant feel secure. It 
matters not through how many perils you may 
have guarded the flame, you can not for an in- 
stant think yourself secure, but must ever ex- 
pect that the very next moment it may fail 
you.” 

But Robert Taillefer raised his head proudly 
and answered: ‘‘ What you have done for your 
sacred flame I may do for mine.” 


Raniero arrived in Italy. One day he rode 


260 CHRIST LEGENDS 


through lonely roads up among the mountains. 
A woman came running after him and begged 
him to give her a light from his candle. ‘‘ The 
fire in my hut is out,”’ said she. ‘‘ My children 
are hungry. Give me a light that I may heat 
my oven and bake bread for them! ”’ 

She reached for the burning candle, but Ra- 
niero held it back because he did not wish that 
anything should be lighted by that flame but the 
candles before the image of the Blessed Virgin. 

Then the woman said to him: “ Pilgrim, 
give me a light, for the life of my children is 
the flame which I am in duty bound to keep 
burning!” And because of these words he per- 
mitted her to light the wick of her lamp from 
his flame. 

Several hours later he rode into a town. It 
lay far up on the mountain, where it was very 
cold. A peasant stood in the road and saw the 
poor wretch who came riding in his torn cloak. 
Instantly he stripped off the short mantle which 
he wore, and flung it to him. But the mantle 
fell directly over the candle and extinguished 
the flame. 

Then Raniero remembered the woman who 
had borrowed a light of him. He turned back 
to her and had his candle lighted anew with 
sacred fire. 

When he was ready to ride farther, he said 


THE SACRED FLAME 261 


to her: ‘‘ You say that the sacred flame which 
you must guard is the life of your children. Can 
you tell me what name this candle’s flame bears, 
which I have carried over long roads?” 

‘“Where was your candle lighted?” asked 
the woman. 

“It was lighted at Christ’s sepulchre,’ 
Raniero. 

“Then it can only be called Gentleness and 
Love of Humanity,” said she. 

Raniero laughed at the answer. He thought 
himself a singular apostle of virtues such as 
these. 


’ said 


Raniero rode forward between beautiful blue 
hills. He saw he was near Florence. He was 
thinking that he must soon part with his light. 
He thought of his tent in Jerusalem, which he 
had left filled with trophies, and the brave sol- 
diers who were still in Palestine, and who would 
be glad to have him take up the business of war 
once more, and bear them on to new conquests 
and honors. 

Then he perceived that he experienced no 
pleasure in thinking of this, but that his 
thoughts were drawn in another direction. 

Then he realized for the first time that he 
was no longer the same man that had gone from 
Jerusalem. The ride with the sacred flame had 


262 CHRIST LEGENDS 


compelled him to rejoice with all who were 
peaceable and wise and compassionate, and to 
abhor the savage and warlike. 

He was happy every time he thought of peo- 
ple who labored peacefully in their homes, and 
it occurred to him that he would willingly move 
into his old workshop in Florence and do beau- 
tiful and artistic work. 

“Verily this flame has recreated me,” he 
thought. ‘I believe it has made a new man 
of me.” 


V 


It was Eastertide when Raniero rode into 
Florence. 

He had scarcely come in through the city 
gate—riding backwards, with his hood drawn 
down over his face and the burning candle in 
his hand—when a beggar arose and shouted 
the customary “‘ Pazzo, pazzo!” - 

At this cry a street gamin darted out of a 
doorway, and a loafer, who had had nothing 
else to do for a long time than to lie and gaze 
at the clouds, jumped to his feet. Both began 
shouting the same thing: ‘“‘ Pazzo, pazzo!” 

Now that there were three who shrieked, 
they made a good deal of noise and so woke up 
all the street urchins. They came rushing out 
from nooks and corners. As soon as they saw 


THE SACRED FLAME 263 


Raniero, in his torn coat, on the wretched horse, 
they shouted: “ Pazzo, pazzo!” 

But this was only what Raniero was accus- 
tomed to. He rode quietly up the street, seem- 
ing not to notice the shouters. 

Then they were not content with merely 
shouting, but one of them jumped up and tried 
to blow out the light. Raniero raised the can- 
dle on high, trying at the same time to prod his 
horse, to escape the boys. 

They kept even pace with him, and did 
everything they could to put out the light. 

The more he exerted himself to protect the 
flame the more excited they became. They 
leaped upon one another’s backs, puffed their 
cheeks out, and blew. They flung their caps at 
the candle. It was only because they were so 
numerous and crowded on one another that 
they did not succeed in quenching the flame. 

This was the largest procession on the street. 
People stood at the windows and laughed. No 
one felt any sympathy with a madman, who 
wanted to defend his candle flame. It was 
church hour, and many worshipers were on 
their way to Mass. ‘They, too, stopped and 
laughed at the sport. 

But now Raniero stood upright in the saddle, 
so that he could shield the candle. He looked 
wild. The hood had fallen back and they saw 


264 CHRIST LEGENDS 


his face, which was wasted and pale, like a mar- 
tyr’s. The candle he held uplifted as high as 
he could. 

The entire street was one great swarm of 
people. Even the older ones began to take part 
in the play. The women waved their head- 
shawls and the men swung their caps. Every 
one worked to extinguish the light. 

Raniero rode under the vine-covered balcony 
of a house. Upon this stood a woman. She 
leaned over the lattice-work, snatched the can- 
dle, and ran in with it. The woman was Fran- 
cesca degli Uberti. 

The whole populace burst into shrieks of 
laughter and shouts, but Raniero swayed in his 
saddle and fell to the street. 

As soon as he lay there stricken and uncon- 
scious, the street was emptied of people. 

No one wished to take charge of the fallen 
man. His horse was the only creature that 
stopped beside him. 

As soon as the crowds had got away from the 
street, Francesca degli Uberti came out from 
her house, with the burning candle in her hand. 
She was still pretty; her features were gentle, 
and her eyes were deep and earnest. 

She went up to Raniero and bent over him. 
He lay senseless, but the instant the candle light 
fell upon his face, he moved and roused him- 


THE SACRED FLAME 265 


self. It was apparent that the candle flame had 
complete power over him. When Francesca 
saw that he had regained his senses, she said: 
“Here is your candle. I snatched it from you, 
as I saw how anxious you were to keep it 
burning. I knew of no other way to help 
you.” 

Raniero had had a bad fall, and was hurt. 
But now nothing could hold him back. He 
began to raise himself slowly. He wanted to 
walk, but wavered, and was about to fall. Then 
he tried to mount his horse. Francesca helped 
him. ‘‘ Where do you wish to go?” she asked 
when he sat in the saddle again. ‘‘I want to 
go to the cathedral,” he answered. ‘‘ Then I 
shall accompany you,”’ she said, “‘ for I’m going 
to Mass.” And she led the horse for him. 

Francesca had recognized Raniero the very 
moment she saw him, but he did not see who 
she was, for he did not take time to notice her. 
He kept his gaze fixed upon the candle flame 
alone. 

They were absolutely silent all the way. Ra- 
niero thought only of the flame, and of guard- 
ing it well these last moments. Francesca could 
not speak, for she felt she did not wish to be 
certain of that which she feared. She could not 
believe but that Raniero had come home insane. 
Although she was almost certain of this, she 


266 CHRIST LEGENDS 


would rather not speak with him, in order to 
avoid any positive assurance. 

After a while Raniero heard some one weep 
near him. He looked around and saw that it 
was Francesca degli Uberti, who walked beside 
him; and she wept. But Raniero saw her only 
for an instant, and said nothing to her. He 
wanted to think only of the sacred flame. 

Raniero let her conduct him to the sacristy. 
There he dismounted. He thanked Francesca 
for her help, but looked all the while not upon 
her, but on the light. He walked alone up to 
the priests in the sacristy. 

Francesca went into the church. It was Eas- 
ter Eve, and all the candles stood unlighted 
upon the altars, as a symbol of mourning. 
Francesca thought that every flame of hope 
which had ever burned within her was now 
extinguished. 

In the church there was profound solemnity. 
There were many priests at the altar. The 
canons sat in a body in the chancel, with the 
bishop among them. 

By and by Francesca noticed there was com- 
motion among the priests. Nearly all who were 
not needed to serve at Mass arose and went 
out into the sacristy. Finally the bishop went, 
too. 

When Mass was over, a priest stepped up to 


THE SACRED FLAME 267 


ne chancel railing and began to speak to the 

‘people. He related that Raniero di Raniero 
had arrived in Florence with sacred fire from 
Jerusalem. He narrated what the rider had 
endured and suffered on the way. And he 
praised him exceeding much. 

The people sat spellbound and listened to 
this. Francesca had never before experienced 
such a blissful moment. ‘“‘ O God!” she sighed, 
‘this is greater happiness than I can bear.” 
Her tears fell as she listened. 

The priest talked long and well. Finally he 
said in a strong, thrilling voice: ‘‘ It may per- 
chance appear like a trivial thing now, that a 
candle flame has been brought to Florence. 
But I say to you: Pray God that He will send 
Florence many bearers of Eternal Light; then 
she will become a great power, and be extolled 
as a city among cities!” 

When the priest had finished speaking, the 
entrance doors of the church were thrown open, 
and a procession of canons and monks and 
priests marched up the center aisle toward the 
altar. The bishop came last, and by his side 
walked Raniero, in the same cloak that he had 
worn during the entire journey. 

But when Raniero had crossed the threshold 
of the cathedral, an old man arose and walked 
toward him. It was Oddo, the father of the 


268 CHRIST LEGENDS 


journeyman who had once worked for Ranierc 
and had hanged himself because of him. 

When this man had come up to the bishop 
and Raniero, he bowed to them. Thereupon 
he said in such a loud voice that all in the 
church heard him: “It is a great thing for 
Florence that Raniero has come with sacred fire 
from Jerusalem. Such a thing has never before 
been heard of or conceived. For that reason 
perhaps there may be many who will say that it 
is not possible. Therefore, I beg that all the 
people may know what proofs and witnesses 
Raniero has brought with him, to assure us that 
this is actually fire which was lighted -in Jeru- 
salem.” 

When Raniero heard this he said: ‘‘ God 
help me! how can I produce witnesses? I have 
made the journey alone. Deserts and mountain 
wastes must come and testify for me.” 

‘““Raniero is an honest knight,’ said the 
bishop, ‘‘ and we believe him on his word.” 

‘“Raniero must know himself that doubts 
will arise as to this,” said Oddo. ‘Surely, he 
can not have ridden entirely alone. His little 
pages could certainly testify for him.” 

Then Francesca degli Uberti rushed up to 
Raniero. ‘‘ Why need we witnesses?’’ said 
she. ‘ All the women in Florence would swear 
on oath that Raniero speaks the truth! ” 


THE SACRED FLAME 269 


Then Raniero smiled, and his countenance 
brightened for a moment. ‘Thereupon he 
turned his thoughts. and his gaze once more 
upon the candle flame. 

There was great commotion in the church. 
Some said that Raniero should not be allowed 
to light the candles on the altar until his claim 
was substantiated. With this se of his old 
enemies sided. 

Then Jacopo degli Uberti rose and spoke in 
Raniero’s behalf. ‘‘I believe every one here 
knows that no very great friendship has existed 
between my son-in-law and me,” he said; “ but 
now both my sons and I will answer for him. 
We believe he has performed this task, and we 
know that one who has been disposed to carry 
out such an undertaking is a wise, discreet, and 
noble-minded man, whom we are glad to re- 
ceive among us.” 

But Oddo and many others were not disposed 
to let him taste of the bliss he was yearning for. 
They got together in a close group and it was 
easy to see that they did not care to withdraw 
their demand. 

Raniero apprehended that if this should de- 
velop into a fight, they would immediately try 
to get at the candle. As he kept his eyes stead- 
ily fixed upon his opponents, he raised the can- 
dle as high as he could. 


270 CHRIST LEGENDS 


He looked exhausted in the extreme, and dis- 
traught. One could see that, although he 
wished to hold out to the very last, he expected 
defeat. What mattered it to him now if he 
were permitted to light the candles? Oddo’s 
word had been a death-blow. When doubt was 
once awakened, it would spread and increase. 
He fancied that Oddo had already extinguished 
the sacred flame forever. 

A little bird came fluttering through the 
great open doors into the church. It flew 
straight into Raniero’s light. He hadn’t time 
to snatch it aside, and the bird dashed against 
it and put out the flame. 

Raniero’s arm dropped, and tears sprang to 
his eyes. ‘The first moment he felt this as a sort 
of relief. It was better thus than if human be- 
ings had killed it. 

The little bird continued its flight into 
the church, fluttering confusedly hither and 
thither, as birds do when they come into a 
room. 

Simultaneously a loud cry  resounded 
throughout the church: ‘ The bird is on fire! 
The sacred candle flame has set its wings on 
fire!” 

The little bird chirped anxiously. For a few 
moments it fluttered about, like a flickering 
flame, under the high chancel arches. Then it 


THE SACRED FLAME 271 


sank suddenly and dropped dead upon the Ma- 
donna’s Altar. 

But the moment the bird fell upon the Altar, 
Raniero was standing there. He had forced 
his way through the church, no one had been 
able to stop him. From the sparks which de- 
stroyed the bird’s wings he lit the candles be- 
fore the Madonna’s Altar. 

Then the bishop raised his staff and pro- 
claimed: ‘‘ God willed it! God hath testified 
for him!” 

And all the people in the church, both his 
friends and opponents, abandoned their doubts 
and conjectures. They cried as with one voice, 
transported by God's miracle: ‘‘ God willed it! 
God hath testified for him! ”’ 

Of Raniero there is now only a legend, which 
says he enjoyed great good fortune for the re- 
mainder of his days, and was wise, and prudent, 
and compassionate. But the people of Florence 
always called him Pazzo degli Ranieri, in re- 
membrance of the fact that they had believed 
him insane. And this became his honorary 
title. He founded a dynasty, which was named 
Pazzi, and is called so even to this day. 

It might also be worth mentioning that it 
became a custom in Florence, each year at Eas- 
ter Eve, to celebrate a festival in memory of 
Raniero’s home-coming with the sacred flame, 


272 CHRIST LEGENDS 


and that, on this occasion, they always let an 
artificial bird fly with fire through the dome. 
This festival would most likely have been cele- 
brated even in our day had not some changes 
taken place recently. 

But if it is true, as many hold, that the bearers 
of sacred fire who have lived in Florence, and 
have made the city one of the most glorious on 
earth, have taken Raniero as their model, and 
have thereby been encouraged to sacrifice and 
suffer and endure, this may here be left untold. 

For what has been done by this light, which 
in dark times has gone out from Jerusalem, can 
neither be measured nor counted. 


THE END 











By Mary W. Plummer 


Director of the Pratt Institate Library School 


Stories of Modern Travel 
For boys and girls from 10 to 16 years 


With maps and illustrations from photographs, na- 
tional songs with music, and index. Large 12mo, each 
$1.75 net; by mail, $i.90. Each in special library bind- 
ings, Io cents net additional. 


ROY AND RAY IN CANADA 


The volume embodies very much that is interesting 
concerning Canadian history, manners and customs, as 
well as descriptions that describe and pictures that 
really illustrate. The book will be useful as a travel 
guide, but itis primarily intended to cover a hitherto 
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“Until the appearance of this book there was really nothing 
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“This volume, with its fine illustrations and comprehensive 
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make it interesting to every child.’— Springfield Republican. 


ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 


A story of Mexican travel for children. Roy and Ray 
Stevens, twins ‘‘ going on twelve,” with their parents, 
spend a summer in Mexico. The book tells from the 
children's standpoint what they see and do, and what 
they learn about Mexico. 


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afford to be without it.”’— Boston Transcript. 


“Very bright and accurate. ... All the novel sights of this 
tropical land come before the vision of these children like a 
moving-picture show, They visit eight cities, and what they 
don’t see is not worth telling about.... Pictures are good and 
really illustrate.’—Mexican Herald (City of Mexico). 








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STORIES FOR GIRLS 
By CARROLL WATSON RANKIN 


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Four young girls secure the use of a tumble-down 
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“Real girls , . . not young ladies with ‘ pigtails,’ but girls 
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Publishers New York 


By JOSEPH B. AMES 


Western stories for boys from 10 to 16 years 
ILLUSTRATED BY VICTOR PERARD. Each, $1.50 


PETE, COW PUNCHER 


Perhaps nowhere else can a more faithful picture, ab- 
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THE TREASURE of the CANYON 


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Dick Carew, a likable young fellow of sixteen, joins 
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‘““A bright, wholesome book... full of the joy of youth... 
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** The narrative is bully reading for boys and it is also one of 
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they ought to be studying their lessons. .. blood-stirring yet 
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Desert, not to speak of the wealth of Aztec history and lore of 
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By HENRY “GARDNER HUNTING 


WITTER WHITEHEAD’S Own STORY 


About a Lucky Splash of Whitewash, Some Stolen 
Silver, and a House that Wasn’t Vacant 


Illustrated by H. S. DeLAY. $1.25 
\For boys from 9 to 16) 


**An account of such exciting experience as every boy would 


% like to have, told with sufficient skill to make it seem quite 
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MISS CONSTANCE D’ARCY MACKAY’S 


THE HOUSE OF THE HEART 
AND OTHER PLAYS FOR CHILDREN 


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Ten short plays in verse, some of them suited to out- 
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The volume includes four quaint morality plays 7he 
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STORIES OF COUNTRY LIFE FOR BOYS 
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STANDARD CYCLOPADIAS FOR YOUNG OR CUD 
CHAMPLIN’S 
Younc Fo.ks’ CyCLOPADIAS 


By JOHN D, CHAMPLIN 
Late Associate Editor of the American Cyclopedia 
Bound in substantial red buckram. Each volume complete 
in itself and sold separately, 12mo, $3.00 per volume, retail 


COMMON THINGS 
New, Enlarged Edition, 850 pp, Profusely Illustrated 


‘A book which will be of Pie ae gee value to any boy or girl to 
whom it may be given, and which fills a place in the juvenile library, 
never, so far as I know, supplied before.”’"—Susan Coolidge, 


PERSONS AND PLACES 

New, Up-to-Date Edition, 985 pp, Over 375 Illustrations 

‘*We know copies of the work to which their young owners turn 
instantly for information upon every theme about which they have 
questions to ask. More than this, we know that some of these copies 
are read daily, as well as consulted; that their owners turn the leaves 
as they might those of a fairy book, reading intently articles cf which 
they had not thought before seeing them, and treating the book simply 
as one capable of furnishing the rarest entertainment in exhaustless 
quantities,’—N. Y. Evening Post, 


LITERATURE AND ART 
604 pp. 270 Illustrations 


‘Few poems, plays, novels, pictures, statues, or fictitious characters 
that children—or most of their parents—of our day are likely to inquire 
about will be missed here. Mr, Champlin’s judgment seems unusually 
sound.”—7ke Nation, 


GAMES AND SPORTS 
By Jonn D. CHAMPLIN and ARTHUR BosTWICK 
Revised Edition, 784 pp. 900 Illustrations 


“Should form a part of every juvenile library, whether public or 
private.” — The Independent. 


NATURAL HISTORY 


By JouN D. CHAMPLIN, assisted by FREDERICK A, LUCAS 
725 pp. Over 800 Illustrations 

“Here, in compact and attractive form, is valuable and reliable in- 
formation on every phase of natural history, on every item of interest 
to the student. Invaluable to the teacher and school, and should be on 
every teacher’s desk for ready reference, and the children should be 
taught to go to this volume for information useful and interesting.”’— 
Journal of Education, 


HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 


NEW YORK CHICAGO 








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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES 


COLLEGE LIBRARY 
This book is due on the last date stamped below. 











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